The Department of Justice has filed an anti-trust lawsuit against Apple. The lawsuit is focused on the iPhone which the government says the company operates as a monopoly through its app store policies.

The civil suit, joined by 16 state and district attorneys general, charges Apple with restricting its smartphone operating system in a way that drives up costs for consumers and prevents developers from successfully releasing products on other smartphone systems...

Among the suit's allegations:

• Apple prevents the successful deployment of what the DOJ calls "super apps" that would make it easier for consumers to switch between smartphone platforms.
• Apple blocks the development of cloud-streaming apps that would allow for high-quality video-game play without having to pay for extra hardware.
• Apple inhibits the development of cross-platform messaging apps so that customers must keep buying iPhones.

Apple's iPhone does have a majority of the US phone market, something around 65%, but globally Apple only has about 28% of the market while various Android phones have about 70% of the market. It sounds to me like consumers have choices but not to the DOJ. The goal here seems to be to force Apple to open its hardware up more to outside developers.

By tightly controlling the user experience on iPhones and other devices, Apple has created what critics call an uneven playing field, where it grants its own products and services access to core features that it denies rivals. Over the years, it has limited finance companies’ access to the phone’s payment chip and Bluetooth trackers from tapping into its location-service feature. It’s also easier for users to connect Apple products, like smartwatches and laptops, to the iPhone than to those made by other manufacturers.

The company says this makes its iPhones more secure than other smartphones. But app developers and rival device makers say Apple uses its power to crush competition.

In any case, you have to appreciate the irony of the hippie progressives at Apple suddenly sounding like the heroes from an Ayn Rand novel.

“This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets,” an Apple spokeswoman said. “If successful, it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple — where hardware, software, and services intersect. It would also set a dangerous precedent, empowering government to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology.”

If you're wondering where all of this is coming from, back in 2020 when Democrats still held the House of Representatives, the House Judiciary Committee issued a report which accused Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook of having "monopoly power."

A 16-month congressional investigation into Amazon, Apple, Google and Facebook has found that the tech giants hold “monopoly power” in key business segments and have abused their dominance in the marketplace, in a full-throated condemnation of the giants.

The findings set the stage for possible future legislation designed to rein in Big Tech, even as antitrust enforcers at the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission gear up for potential litigation against some of the companies...

“These firms have too much power, and that power must be reined in and subject to appropriate oversight and enforcement,” the report said. “Our economy and democracy are at stake.”

That report was issued in October 2020. Since then, the Biden DOJ has brought anti-trust lawsuits against all four of the companies. 

And to be fair, Google really does seem to have a traditional monopoly on the internet search business. It has something like 91% of the search market worldwide. The big exception is China where Chinese company Baidu has about 80% of the market. Also in Russia Google only has about half of the market. The DOJ sued Google last year.

AG Garland held a news conference about the lawsuit a short time ago. It runs about 35 minutes.