US sues Apple in antitrust case over building smartphone market monopoly

The Justice Department on Thursday announced a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Apple, accusing the tech giant of engineering an illegal monopoly in smartphones that boxes out competitors, stifles innovation and keeps prices artificially high.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New Jersey, alleges that Apple has monopoly power in the smartphone market and leverages control over the iPhone to engage in a broad, sustained, and illegal course of conduct.

Apple has locked its consumers into the iPhone while locking its competitors out of the market, said Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco. Stalling the advancement of the very market it revolutionised, she said, it has “smothered an entire industry.