Apple Blamed For Amazon, Microsoft, And HTC’s Smartphone Flops In DOJ’s Latest Lawsuit Against iPhone-Maker

On Thursday, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc. AAPL blaming iPhone-maker for the lack of success of major companies like Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, Microsoft Corporation MSFT and HTC Corporation. 

What Happened: On Thursday, Bloomberg columnist Mark Gurman posted a screenshot from the DOJ lawsuit against Apple on X, formerly Twitter, and said, “The DOJ is blaming Apple for the Amazon Fire phone failing.”

The screenshot showed the DOJ accusing Apple: “Many prominent, well-financed companies have tried and failed to successfully enter the relevant markets because of these entry barriers. Past failures include Amazon (which released its Fire mobile phone in 2014 but could not profitably sustain its business and exited the following year); Microsoft (which discontinued its mobile business in 2017) and HTC…”

See Also: Apple’s Senior VP Shares His Top 3 iPhones — And The Answer May Not Be What You Guessed

The Cupertino, California-based tech giant previously responded to the lawsuit, saying that it threatened its core principles and ability to innovate. 

“If successful, it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple—where hardware, software, and services intersect,” the company told Benzinga in an emailed statement, adding, “It would also set a dangerous precedent, empowering government to take a heavy hand in designing people’s technology.”

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The latest lawsuit filed by the DOJ is the third antitrust case against Apple in the last 14 years. However, this is the first time the DOJ is accusing Apple of illegally maintaining its dominant position in the phone market. 

Why It’s Important: Deepwater Asset Management’s managing partner Gene Munster has also addressed the concerns surrounding the lawsuit saying the case is “going to prove to be noise.” 

He said, “Consumers just want the best tech for the money, and Apple [delivers] that today and will in three years,” adding, “Yes, Apple will likely be forced [to] make some small changes to ‘delight’ the regulators, but those tweaks won’t change the loyalty the company has from its 1.4B and growing customer base.”

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