Tennessee joined a multi-state antitrust lawsuit against Apple, which claims that the Silicon Valley company is monopolizing the smartphone market.
“Apple, the most valuable company in the world, stifled competition in the smartphone market at the expense of consumers,” said Tennessee Attorney General Skrmetti in a press release. “When companies win by innovating, consumers benefit. When companies win by kneecapping their competition, consumers suffer.”
The complaint, filed in conjunction with 15 other states in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, says that Apple “illegally maintains a monopoly over smartphones by selectively imposing contractual restrictions on, and withholding critical access points from, developers.”
Skrmetti and the other attorneys general say that Apple is in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, codified as 15 U.S. Code § 2.
“Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished by fine not exceeding $100,000,000 if a corporation, or, if any other person, $1,000,000, or by imprisonment not exceeding 10 years, or by both said punishments, in the discretion of the court,” that law says.
The lawsuit claims that Apple “undermines” products, services, and applications that would otherwise be useful to consumers, making those consumers more reliant on the iPhone.
“As alleged in the complaint, Apple has monopoly power in the smartphone and performance smartphones markets, and it uses its control over the iPhone to engage in a broad, sustained, and illegal course of conduct,” the release says. “This anticompetitive behavior is designed to maintain Apple’s monopoly power while extracting as much revenue as possible.”
The ultimate goal, according to Skrmetti’s release, is to restore competition in the smartphone space.
Skrmetti’s office did not return a comment request.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter/X.
