Apple reportedly will get sued by DOJ Thursday; tech rivals say Apple failed to follow judge's orders

The U.S. Department of Justice is ready to file a lawsuit against Apple as soon as tomorrow. The suit would charge Apple with violating antitrust laws by blocking the company's rivals from accessing certain hardware and software features of the iPhone. The news of the suit, which will be filed in federal court, was first published by Bloomberg on Wednesday. While Apple has been sued by the DOJ two other times over the past 14 years, this suit is a little different since it accuses Apple of using illegal methods to help the iPhone dominate in certain markets.

Back in January, we told you that the DOJ was on the verge of filing this lawsuit which charges Apple with making it difficult for rival firms to compete against the iPhone. At the time, some of the issues that were mentioned by The New York Times included Apple's decision to lock competitors out of its iMessage platform, why the Apple Watch works better with the iPhone than other smartphones, and how Apple's mobile payment system blocks third-party firms from competing with Apple.

Some of these issues were addressed in the EU with the passage of the Digital Markets Act (DMA) which requires Apple in the 27 EU countries to allow the use of third-party in-app payment platforms, requires Apple to allow third-party financial firms to work with the iPhone's mobile-payment system, and opens up the iPhone to non-WebKit-powered mobile browsers. Last month, Bloomberg reported that Apple met with officials from the DOJ in an effort to convince the agency not to file an antitrust lawsuit. If Bloomberg is correct about what is coming on Thursday, Apple failed.

In related news, AppleInsider reports that a whole gang of tech firms including Meta Platforms, Microsoft, X, and Match Group filed an amicus brief with the court joining Epic Games to complain that Apple has failed to follow a judge's ruling in the Epic v. Apple lawsuit from back in 2021. Apple was required to allow iOS game and app developers to redirect customers to third-party in-app payment processing platforms.

Developers can now put a single link in their app directing customers to third-party payment processing platforms. However, Apple is still collecting a cut of 12% to 27% on these purchases, 3 percentage points less than the 15%-30% cut Apple takes for transactions going through its own in-app payment processing platform. 

Epic is complaining about the fee Apple still charges even when third-party payment platforms are used. The game developer is also not happy about the one link limit that the tech giant allows and says that the iPhone maker should be held in contempt of court. Microsoft, Meta, X, and Match say that Apple is preventing apps from including "even the most basic information" about third-party payment platforms. Apple claims that it has been in compliance with the judge's order since January.

Apple's shares have been on the rebound lately rising from $170 to nearly $179 in line with a strong tech sector. However, once the Bloomberg report came out, the shares got hit in after-hours trading declining to $176.40.