Apple faces years of distractions after DOJ antitrust suit

The U.S. Department of Justice sued Apple on Thursday, accusing it of using the iPhone’s market power to cut off rivals, kicking off a multi-year process involving hundreds of lawyers and threatening Apple’s “walled garden” business model.

The U.S. Department of Justice sued Apple on Thursday, accusing it of using the iPhone’s market power to cut off rivals, kicking off a multi-year process involving hundreds of lawyers and threatening Apple’s “walled garden” business model.

If the DOJ wins, it could seek a range of changes to Apple’s business, and U.S. officials didn’t rule out the possibility that Apple could face “structural remedies” or be broken up.

If Apple’s arguments prevail, a court could rule that its estimated 64% of U.S. smartphone share isn’t a monopoly, or that its conduct wasn’t illegal, giving Apple new tools to fight off future regulation.

But before any of that happens, we’ll likely see years of legal wrangling, during which Apple will be forced to defend its business in public, distract its executives with legal meetings, produce internal documents for the government, and potentially face bad headlines that could hurt its brand or image.

The DOJ’s lawsuit still needs to be assigned to a judge. In the short term, Apple could ask for a change of trial location away from New Jersey, and it will likely ask to dismiss the case entirely.

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/apple/apple-faces-years-distractions-doj-antitrust-suit-rcna144617

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