Apple will today ask a judge to dismiss the DOJ antitrust case

Lawyers acting for Apple are today expected to ask a federal judge to dismiss the DOJ antitrust case against the company in its entirety.

The Department of Justice has for years been investigating whether Apple broke antitrust law by abusing its dominant position in the US smartphone market, before deciding that it did, and filing charges in March of this year …

The DOJ antitrust case against Apple

As we noted at the time, the DOJ lawsuit ran to 88 pages, and can be politely described as “broad.”

It’s the very definition of a ‘spray and pray’ approach: throwing as many things into the mix as possible, and hoping that some of them stick.

The DOJ has taken every antitrust complaint ever levelled against Apple – plus one that has never been made – and turned them into official charges against the company.

Apple responded in kind, denying every one of the claims, and promising to fight every step of the way.

Apple calling for the case to be dismissed

Reuters reports Apple will today argue that all of the charges should be dismissed.

Apple will ask a federal judge on Wednesday to dismiss the U.S. Department of Justice’s case accusing the iPhone maker of unlawfully dominating the smartphone market […]

Apple has moved to dismiss the case, saying its limitations on developers’ access to its technology were reasonable, and that forcing it to share technology with competitors would chill innovation.

9to5Mac’s Take

The DOJ’s lawsuit is badly formulated, and makes some dubious claims. All the same, some of the charges mirror those made in the EU, where Apple was found guilty.

We’ve argued before that the changes the company was forced to make in the EU will have a very limited financial impact on the company.

To take two examples, Apple has had to open up the NFC chip to bank apps for contactless transactions – but almost everyone will continue to use the Wallet app for the convenience of being able to pay with any card within just one app.

Similarly with third-party app stores. Some will use them, but the vast majority of iPhone owners will continue to buy their apps the same way they always have: through the official App Store.

Rather than fight the same charges over and over again in countries and regions around the world, Apple would be better off biting the bullet once and letting its customers vote with their wallets.

Photo by Colin Lloyd on Unsplash