Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world, so it's natural that the company has attracted a lot of scrutiny over its business practices. The U.S. government has been looking into Apple for antitrust violations for a while now, and it appears that we may see a case filed soon.
A new report from The New York Times says that the U.S. Department of Justice could file an antitrust case surrounding its tactics around keeping the iPhone's dominance in the market as early as the first half of 2024. The case could lead to a lot of changes down the line, with the focus being Apple's control over hardware and software making it difficult for users to switch away.
iMessage, Apple Watch, payment system lock-ins the focus of investigation
The NYT report says the investigation has been focused on Apple Watch, iMessage, and payment system lock-ins on the iPhone. We've already seen a lawsuit spiral out of the latter, with Epic Games going up against Apple in court.
The report notes that their sources say that senior leaders in the antitrust department of the U.S. DoJ are reviewing the results of this investigation.
The report says, "The agency’s officials have met with Apple multiple times, including in December, to discuss the investigation. No final decision has been made about whether a lawsuit should be filed or what it should include, and Apple has not had a final meeting with the Justice Department in which it can make its case to the government before a lawsuit is filed."
So, the case may not go through if Apple is able to convince the government not to pursue it. NYT's sources also said that Apple's compliance with EU regulations could affect the U.S. Department of Justice's decision about whether its investigation should lead to a case.
