The United States Department of Justice has sued Apple over running the iPhone as a monopoly. But what does that mean for you? Here’s what you need to know.
If you’re reading this article, chances are you have an iPhone. It’s also quite likely that your friends and family members also use an iPhone. The iPhone is the smartphone of choice for millions of people in the U.S., and now, the Department of Justice (DOJ) is suing Apple over the iPhone monopoly it has established over the years.
Why is this happening? What does it mean for you and your iPhone? Here’s a quick breakdown of what you need to know.Why Apple is being sued
We’ll start with the biggest question first: Why is Apple being sued? On March 21, the DOJ and 16 state/district attorneys sued Apple over allegations that the company is running its iPhone business as an illegal monopoly.
In the complaint filed in the District of New Jersey, it reads, “Each step in Apple’s course of conduct built and reinforced the moat around its smartphone monopoly. The cumulative effect of this course of conduct has been to maintain and entrench Apple’s smartphone monopoly at the expense of the users, developers, and other third parties who helped make the iPhone what it is today.”
How, specifically, is the DOJ accusing Apple of running the iPhone as a monopoly? It focuses on a few points. The DOJ points out Apple’s stranglehold on iMessage and the disparity in message quality when an iPhone user texts someone with an Android phone.
