The US Justice Department might soon be rolling out a sweeping antitrust case against tech giant Apple.

As per The New York Times, the agency is currently carrying out scrutiny against the iPhone maker and is in the latter part of the investigation as we speak.

The main focus appears to be linked to the firm’s regulation of both hardware and software and how it’s carrying out a walled garden approach so it’s challenging for arch-rivals in the industry to compete with one another. At the same time, it means making it harder for customers to switch on over to other products from competitors.

The bombshell report indicated how the investigation has gone above and beyond anything outlined in the past. Here, the scope seems to be linked to how the iPhone maker’s Apple Watch is intricately combined with services from the iPhone’s services as compared to competitors in the wearables industry.

In the same way, it would also lock out competitor platforms from services like iMessage. And as per reports, that’s extreme unlawful behavior.

Meanwhile, executives from other companies such as Beeper are eyeing the reports very carefully. They got into a massive debate with the iPhone maker in terms of its iMessage-blocking feature being integrated across Android devices.

Another firm like Tile designed Bluetooth trackers before the arrival of AirTag sat down and spoke to the DOJ on the matter. The agency reportedly had plenty of chats with reps arising from banking platforms and payment apps regarding the iPhone maker’s behavior toward preventing rivals from utilizing tap-to-pay for iPhone devices.

Meanwhile, Facebook’s parent firm also held chats with investigators on the subject. The social media firm mentioned how it was time the DOJ held the Cupertino firm accountable and also investigated its ATT privacy tools for tracking transparency.

This was rolled out two years back to allow users to prevent advertisers from collecting their data and from carrying out tracking activities.

This might cost the firm a whopping $10 billion in that year alone as confirmed by the NYT. The latter added how investigators are looking into the company’s share of digital purchase done across iPhones, Epic Games, and Spotify. Other companies like Match Group have similarly been so vocal about the matter in recent times.

• Also read: Civil Liberty Advocates Call For End To Police Using Google Search Data To Solve Criminal Cases

As it is, the American government is currently very busy with the long list of antitrust cases related to Big Tech organizations. They are currently looking into two leading cases against search engine giant Google specifically.

The Android maker would be investigated for its advertising and also for its search-related activities. Meanwhile, the FTC would sue Meta as well as Amazon for similar anti-trust behavior. So as much of their efforts are allocated in that direction, it seems like Apple’s turn would only come after that.

Photo: Digital Information World - AIgen

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