30% Commission and More Than 65% Share at Heart of U.S. Antitrust Case Against Apple

Key Facts

Apple faces an antitrust lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department on March 21, 2024. The department says the company illegally maintained a monopoly in the smartphone market. According to the department’s statement, the case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, with 15 states and the District of Columbia joining. The complaint alleges that Apple used contractual restrictions and withheld key access points from developers. The department says these practices limited interoperability and reinforced users’ reliance on the iPhone. The department and the states’ attorneys general are seeking judicial relief on behalf of the American public to restore competition in the markets at issue.

In remarks coinciding with the lawsuit’s filing, Attorney General Merrick Garland said Apple charged a 30% commission on prices for apps downloaded from the App Store and on in-app purchases during most of the 15 years before his remarks. Garland linked the commission to the company’s business model for distributing apps and digital services. He also said Apple’s share exceeded 70% of the U.S. high-performance smartphone market and 65% of the overall U.S. smartphone market. He estimated that an iPhone cost as much as about $1,600. The department presented these figures as part of its argument about Apple’s market power, not as a settled judicial finding.

The department’s allegations extend beyond commissions to include restrictions it says impede competition among services and devices. The department’s statement cited the disabling of some all-in-one apps and cloud-streaming services, as well as weakened messaging compatibility across platforms. The department also accused Apple of restricting third-party watches and digital wallets that use tap-to-pay. In response, Apple said the case was “wrong on the facts and the law” and added that it would continue to defend itself vigorously in court. The central dispute, then, is whether Apple’s rules protect its product ecosystem or illegally restrict competitors and developers.

Bloomberg Law noted that Apple had made changes related to some issues raised in the complaint, including allowing cloud-streaming apps and opening the iPhone’s payment chip to third-party apps. But the Apple Watch, according to the report, remained incompatible with Android. These changes put some of the company’s practices under review, while the lawsuit continues to address a broader range of alleged restrictions. As for the company’s scale, the Justice Department said Apple generated $383 billion in net revenue and $97 billion in net income in fiscal 2023. Apple shares closed at $343.83 on October 28, 2026, compared with a close of $347.10 the previous day and $343.91 on October 26, with available data not linking the move to the case.