This tech giant is set to face an antitrust trial over alleged smartphone monopoly

Apple is forced to confront a sweeping antitrust lawsuit after a federal judge allowed the case to continue. U.S. District Judge Julien Neals in Newark, New Jersey, on Monday turned down Apple’s bid to dismiss a lawsuit the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed against the company in which the DOJ alleged Apple engaged in illegal behaviour to monopolise the U.S. smartphone market.

The lawsuit accuses Apple of restricting competition by abusing control of the App Store

Filed in March 2024 by the DOJ joined by attorneys general in multiple U.S. states and Washington, D.C., the government alleges Apple’s third-party app and device vendor restrictions were created to keep users locked in to its ecosystem and to discourage switching. The Epic Games didn’t quite look like the thorough victory for Apple in its case against Apple that it looked like when District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers made her original ruling in September of 2021.

In 2024 alone, iPhone sales generated $201 billion, making it the most popular smartphone globally. In February 2025, Apple released a new budget model iPhone featuring enhanced capabilities, but priced $170 higher than its predecessor.

This legal battle is part of a broader wave of antitrust enforcement targeting Big Tech companies during the Biden and previous Trump administrations. Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, and Amazon.com are also facing similar lawsuits over alleged monopolistic practices, while Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is currently fighting two antitrust cases of its own.

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