Did the US Overstep in Suing Apple and Calling it a Monopoly?
The US federal government sued Apple on Thursday, March 21st, claiming that the iPhone is a monopoly. This lawsuit follows a series of other moves by the US government to try to step up oversight in different markets. This blog discusses aspects of the lawsuit and why Aragon Research feels it’s an overreach.
The Monopoly Lawsuit Against Apple
While the US government claims that Apple has a 65% market share, Aragon would argue that the Android ecosystem is just as strong and has tons of phone options for consumers. They also claim that the price of the iPhone is too high, often close to $1500 for a high-end unit.
However, the US government needs to realize that most Apple phones and Android phones are heavily subsidized by cellular carriers such as Verizon T-Mobile, and AT&T. Many consumers only pay between $8 and $35 per month for an installment plan. Despite high list prices, the prices users pay have gone down due to subsidies.
Access to Cloud Games
The US government also claims that Apple has stifled user access to cloud-based games which is fairly laughable. Apple has one of the largest app ecosystems including games available for both free and paid subscriptions of any provider. Users are free to pick from any game they want, assuming that they are gamers.
Apple rewards game developers with significant revenues if the game becomes popular
The US Sues Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft
No one should be surprised that the US federal government made this move. Because of past lawsuits some of which are currently in process against Amazon Google, Meta, and Microsoft. So Apple is just the latest target.
Government Support or Government Interference
The question when these types of monopoly lawsuits arise is whether one of the governments is trying to support industries or are they trying to stifle them. Often, the difference in filing lawsuits comes down to the perceptions and attitudes of government officials. Well the European Union has been more aggressive on issues such as privacy The US government is now catching up as far as its charges against large tech firms
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