In March, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and 16 states filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, alleging that the company has an illegal monopoly in the smartphone market with the iPhone and the device's locked-down ecosystem.
The lawsuit accuses Apple of broad anticompetitive conduct that affects everything from web browsers and messaging to apps and digital payments. According to the DOJ, Apple has made it harder for consumers to switch between smartphone platforms, blocked the development of cloud-based streaming apps, made the cross-platform messaging experience worse, limited the functionality of third-party smartwatches paired to the iPhone, prevented third-party apps from offering tap-to-pay functionality, and more.
Some of Apple's policy changes this year have already negated some of these claims. In January, the company started allowing cloud-based game streaming apps on the App Store worldwide. And in August, it opened up the iPhone's NFC chip used by Apple Pay to third-party developers in the U.S. and select other countries.
In a New Jersey federal court on Wednesday, lawyers representing Apple argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed, claiming that the DOJ has failed to plausibly allege that the company has monopoly power in the smartphone market and that consumers were harmed. Judge Julien Neals said that he hopes to make a ruling by January.
"We believe this lawsuit is wrong on the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend against it," said Apple, when the lawsuit was filed earlier this year.
A motion to dismiss is a fairly common step in lawsuits, and it is likely that the case will proceed to trial, although some of the claims could potentially be amended or dismissed. In all likelihood, the U.S. v. Apple trial will drag on for years to come.
Read our U.S. v. Apple guide for more details about the lawsuit.
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