1. Trends & External Forces

Justice Dept. Increases Apple Scrutiny

The Wall Street Journal reports that the US Department of Justice is “ramping up” work on an antitrust complaint against Apple Inc., focusing in part on “Apple’s policies governing mobile third-party software on its devices, which has been the focus of much of the criticism targeting Apple’s competitive practices. The department is also looking at whether Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS, operates in an anticompetitive way by favoring its own products over those of outside developers, the people said.”

According to the story, “The investigation into whether Apple has monopoly power that it abuses began in 2019, but enforcers have escalated their efforts in recent months, with more litigators now assigned to the case and new requests for documents and consultations with companies involved.”

Apple has not commented on the increased scrutiny.  However, the Journal notes that “in the past, Apple has said it doesn’t operate its business in a way that hurts developers. It has said that it embraces competition on the App Store, including when apps compete directly with Apple’s own products.”

KC’s View:

I mention this because I think it is reflective of the more aggressive approach to antitrust being taken by the Biden administration via the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission (FTC).  All of which could matter to Amazon, and maybe to Kroger and Albertsons, as they deal with their own questions about antitrust compliance and competitive equity.

The post <strong>Justice Dept. Increases Apple Scrutiny</strong> appeared first on MNB.

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