The fall of the magnificent seven, potentially one after the other, is in play. The Department of Justice is suing Apple (AAPL) over an alleged iPhone monopoly. The DOJ will have a difficult time proving that Apple restricted its operating system.
The DOJ alleges that Apple’s OS restriction drove up costs for consumers. Additionally, it prevented developers from releasing the product on other smartphone systems. It cited super app prevention, requirements for developing cloud-streaming apps and inhibiting the development of cross-messaging apps.
The landmark antitrust case is deeply troubling for AAPL stock. 16 other state and district attorney generals joined the suit.
Apple said that if the DOJ is successful, it will harm its ability to create quality products where hardware, software, and services intersect.
The case is unfortunate. When a judge ruled against Microsoft in an antitrust suit for monopolizing the web browser market for Windows, it prevented the firm from becoming as great as it is today.
Microsoft’s in-house browser, Edge, and its search engine Bing, are no threat to Chrome and Google, respectively. In any case, Apple will fall behind in AI, smartphones, apps, and services if it loses this case.
Fine Imposed by European Union
Apple, along with Google and Meta Platforms, are about to face probes regarding their compliance with a new law. This may lead to large fines.
