Breaking news as it pertains to Apple,
this breaking just a few minutes ago that the US Justice Department suing
Apple in an antitrust case over the iPhone.
Joining us now with the latest is Bloomberg's Ed Ludlow.
And Ed, what is the basis of this lawsuit?
Yeah, the accusation from the DOJ in 16 different states is that Apple has
violated antitrust laws by having dominance or outsized influence over the
distribution of apps and by extension, that those policies
prevent consumers from having a ch
oice of moving away from an iOS based handset
of which they're the maker. This is confirming something Bloomberg
reported last night, almost every single detail.
But it's important to note that in this session we're now down 2.9% and those
declines that continue to accelerate. It's the third time that the DOJ has
gone after Apple in the last decade or so.
They've looked at other issues like the pricing of e-books on the iPad, for
example. As you know, it follows the Supreme
Court case or the cou
rt case around the battle with Epic.
But the stock declines at 2.9%, obviously having an impact as we hit 3%
at the index level, as well as Apple being the biggest drag on the S&P 500.
Yes, quite dramatic. Of course, this reaction in Apple
already shares down or down about 10% for the year.
So the bad year just gets worse here, Ed.
And I mean, you mentioned some of the other antitrust concerns that Apple is
facing. Of course, we also had the European
Union earlier this month suing or fining Appl
e for shutting out its rival music
services on the iPhone. It feels like we're talking about
something that is just going to continue and continue to haunt Apple.
Yeah, Apple now down more than 3% in the session.
That 1.8 billion, you're a $2 billion fine.
The logic, if it was that Apple gives the consumer no choice.
If you want Spotify who are the main complainants in that case you can only
get the subscription and pay through it through the iOS system.
What the European Union and the complaina
nts wanted to see was the
ability to go on a website on a different handset or a laptop and sign
up or pay for it outside of the iOS ecosystem, therefore allowing for
competitive pricing. In other words, Apple would not allow
app developers to steer consumers towards a better deal.
And this DOJ antitrust lawsuit is similar in the sense that it looks at
the distribution of apps and how the policies keep a user contained within
the iOS system. Stock now down 2.8%.
What a morning.
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