Update: Apple has responded to the decision with a statement provided to 9to5Mac. See full statement below.
Apple’s attempt to shut down the U.S. government’s antitrust case over its alleged smartphone monopoly has just hit a wall. Here’s the latest.
Apple had filed a motion to dismiss the case in August
As reported by Reuters, U.S. District Judge Julien Neals in Newark, New Jersey rejected Apple’s motion to dismiss the Department of Justice lawsuit that accuses the company of illegally maintaining dominance in the U.S. smartphone market.
The high-stakes case filed in March 2024 by the DOJ, along with 16 state attorneys general and Washington, D.C., is now clear to move forward in its attempt to curb Apple’s longstanding limitations on third-party apps, services, and accessories.
The DOJ argues that Apple makes it unnecessarily difficult for users to switch to competing platforms, and just as hard for rivals to compete, especially in areas like messaging, smartwatches, digital wallets, and cloud services that go head-to-head with core iPhone features. From the original filing:
“For many years, Apple has built a dominant iPhone platform and ecosystem that has driven the company’s astronomical valuation. At the same time, it has long understood that disruptive technologies and innovative apps, products, and services threatened that dominance by making users less reliant on the iPhone or making it easier to switch to a non-Apple smartphone. Rather than respond to competitive threats by offering lower smartphone prices to consumers or better monetization for developers, Apple would meet competitive threats by imposing a series of shapeshifting rules and restrictions in its App Store guidelines and developer agreements that would allow Apple to extract higher fees, thwart innovation, offer a less secure or degraded user experience, and throttle competitive alternatives.”
Apple’s defense echoed past arguments
In court, Apple has defended its ecosystem, arguing that its developer rules are about user security and platform integrity, rather than market control. The company also warned that forcing it to loosen access could chill innovation across the board.
But U.S. District Judge Julien Neals wasn’t persuaded enough to toss the case, which now heads toward what could be another years-long battle in court.
It’s worth noting that this case is part of a broader U.S. crackdown on Big Tech. Meta is awaiting a near-term ruling that could force it to unwind its acquisitions of WhatsApp and Instagram, while Google is fighting two separate antitrust cases: one targeting its dominance in search, and another focused on its ad tech business.
We have reached out to Apple for comment and will update this post if we hear back.
Update: In a statement provided to 9to5Mac, an Apple spokesperson said:
“We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we will continue to vigorously fight it in court.”
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