TECH NEWS – The US Department of Justice already had questions about the company’s dominance, but to change the state of the industry, four states have considered suing Apple.

Nevada, Washington, Indiana and Massachusetts are taking action against Apple, according to Apple Insider. No further details are known, but it’s official that the four states joined the lawsuit against the Cupertino company on June 11. “We welcome the states of Indiana, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Washington to join our existing coalition to restore competition in the smartphone markets that Apple has monopolized. We look forward to litigating this important case with our state partners to bring the benefits of competition to consumers, app developers, accessory manufacturers and the American public,” said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kantor of the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division.

On March 21, it was reported that the Justice Department is suing Apple for violating Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act in five ways: limiting the growth of third-party apps, limiting cloud streaming services, excluding cross-platform messaging apps, limiting the functionality of Apple Watch competitors, and limiting NFC to third-party services. Apple recently added RCS support in iOS 18.

Attorney General Merrick Garland doesn’t like the fact that Apple takes a 30% cut of the App Store and has a less than welcoming experience for third-party accessories, such as smartwatches other than the Apple Watch. Apple also does not offer third-party messaging services on the platform. In response, the company said that the Department of Justice must prove three valid allegations, which include monopoly in the relevant market, anticompetitive conduct, and the effects of the company’s anticompetitive nature. The department has accused the company of limitations while failing to provide the effects of the complaints. Apple says it “faces vigorous competition from well-established competitors” without having “the market share necessary to establish or infer market power.”

That doesn’t sound good for Apple.

Source: WCCFTech, AppleInsider