Apple is being sued by the EU for monopolizing the smartphone market

President Joe Biden‘s government launched a lawsuit against Apple on Thursday, claiming that the tech company’s iPhone model has given them a monopoly in the smartphone industry.

The Biden Administration’s first significant antitrust action against Apple is represented by the case, which was submitted to a federal court in New Jersey.

«Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies violate antitrust laws,» said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a statement.

«If this does not change, Apple will continue to strengthen its monopoly in smartphones,» he added.

The Justice Department and sixteen state attorneys general have filed a lawsuit against Apple, alleging that the company has restricted access to the technology used in the iPhone in order to increase customer costs and deter future competitors from releasing similar devices.

The Justice Department claims that Apple has used its control over the iPhone to «engage in a type of unlawful conduct, on a broad and sustained basis.»

The case is specifically directed against the digital fortress that Apple has created not only with iPhone, but also with other products such as iPad, Mac and Apple Watch so that consumers have to rely on those devices and cannot combine them with other products from other companies.

Apple, headquartered in Cupertino, California, denied the allegations and accused the government of overreaching, according to a statement reported by local media.

Google has previously been sued by the Department of Justice for monopolizing digital advertising services, and the Federal Trade Commission is also pursuing antitrust cases against Amazon and Facebook’s parent company, Meta.

With yearly sales of around $400 billion and a market valuation of more than $3 billion, Apple is among the most powerful corporations in the world.