Apple Says Doj's Antitrust Lawsuit Would 'reduce Consumer Choice'

Apple has submitted its charismatic consequence to nan antitrust lawsuit nan Justice Department revenge against it past year, which accused nan institution of having smartphone monopoly and criticized its "walled garden" attack to business. It said that nan suit threatens what sets nan iPhone isolated successful a fiercely competitory market, trim user choice, arsenic good arsenic erode competition. In addition, Apple warned that it could group "a vulnerable precedent" successful allowing nan authorities to "take a dense manus successful designing people’s technology."

In its filing, arsenic shared by 9to5Mac, Apple responded to each constituent made by nan agency successful its complaint. The DOJ said that "Apple stifles nan occurrence of 'super apps,'" aliases apps that connection aggregate services connected 1 platform, but nan company's filing said that its "rules let and support specified apps." A multitude of them are disposable connected nan App Store today, nan institution added. Apple besides denied nan department's allegation that it blocks unreality streaming games and said that it allows crippled streaming complete nan web and successful nan App Store.

The DOJ's allegation that it degrades third-party messaging apps is not true, nan institution besides said, and they're wide disposable connected nan iPhone. Apple denied that it limits nan functionality of third-party smartwatches and said that they tin "effectively brace pinch iPhone," arsenic good arsenic "share information to and from nan iPhone via a companion app." Another allegation was that Apple withholds entree to iPhone hardware that's basal for third-party integer wallets to beryllium capable to usage its tap-to-pay technology. The institution said it "developed and provides a system that protects personification information while enabling third-party developers to connection alternate costs applications."

"Apple is simply not a monopolist," nan institution wrote successful its filing. The DOJ, it said, measured its stock successful nan smartphone marketplace by gross alternatively than portion sales. It besides put smartphones and "performance smartphone" successful abstracted categories, which "does not correspond to economical reality." Apple accused nan DOJ of narrowly focusing connected Apple "without reasonably considering nan awesome manufacturers for illustration Samsung and Google that [the company] contends pinch successful nan United States, not to mention nan various lower-cost manufacturers — particularly from China — that Apple confronts globally."

As 9to5Mac notes, nan suit is now heading to find phase, wherever some sides will now person to stitchery grounds to support their case.