The US Justice Department has launched an antitrust lawsuit against tech giant Apple over allegations of the company violating antitrust laws.
The lawsuit was filed to a federal court in New Jersey, in addition with 16 State Attorney Generals, along with the District of Columbia.
The Department of Justice held a press conference on Thursday and stated the the tech company violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, which is a law prohibits activities that restrict interstate commerce and competition in the marketplace.
Speaking at the press conference, Merrick Garland, the US Attorney General, outlined that the Apple income exceeds the GDP of 100 countries. He noted that the tech company’s revenue is made up of its iPhone sales, which makes up 65 per cent of the US mobile phone market.
He noted that people are charged around $1600 for iPhone’s and highlighted that “consumers should not pay higher prices because a company breaks the law.”
Garland stated that Apple is one of the largest companies in the world, not because of superiority but because their unlawful exclusivity behaviour.
The lawsuit alleges that Apple has monopoly power in the smartphone market and uses its control over the iPhone to “engage in a broad, sustained, and illegal course of conduct.”
Apple is the world’s most valuable brand as of last June, the American phone and tech maker was valued at $880bn (£698bn).
The tech giant has been on the receiver’s end of anti-competition lawsuits in England, as the company was sued by UK app developers last July over allegation that the company’s App Store holds an unfair monopoly.