The US Department of Justice has accused Apple of monopolising the smartphone market in a new lawsuit.

The case, which was brought by the DoJ and 15 US states, alleges that Apple has and continues to “selectively” impose contractual restrictions on developers to drive up prices for consumers and businesses. It accuses Apple of maintaining an illegal monopoly on smartphones by withholding critical access from developers.

In a statement, Attorney General Merrick Garland said: "Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies violate the antitrust laws. If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly."

“Apple exercises its monopoly power to extract more money from consumers, developers, content creators, artists, publishers, small businesses, and merchants, among others,” a further press release read.

In particular, the suit accuses Apple of disrupting so-called 'super apps' that could impact 'iOS stickiness' and make it easier for consumers to switch to competing devices. The DoJ also claims that Apple's practices of blocking cloud-streaming gaming apps from the App Store and suppressing the quality of messaging to and from Android devices as evidence of its monopoly.

DoJ antitrust division boss Jonathan Kanter added: “For years, Apple responded to competitive threats by imposing a series of ‘Whac-A-Mole’ contractual rules and restrictions that have allowed Apple to extract higher prices from consumers, impose higher fees on developers and creators, and to throttle competitive alternatives from rival technologies.”

Reacting to the lawsuit, Apple issued the following statement: "This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets. If successful, it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple – where hardware, software, and services intersect.”

Apple has faced multiple antitrust probes across the world in markets such as Europe and Japan, but this marks the first action taken by the US under the Biden administration.

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