CT joins antitrust lawsuit against Apple over messaging

Do you have an iPhone? Have you ever had a problem texting someone with an Android? Connecticut’s attorney general says that’s illegal.

Connecticut will join in on an antitrust lawsuit against Apple, state Attorney General William Tong announced Thursday, arguing that the tech giant has attempted to monopolize the smartphone market in violation of federal law.

Tong, along with 15 other attorneys general and the U.S. Department of Justice, alleges that Apple has violated the Sherman Act, by making messaging between iPhones and other smartphones difficult.

“Messaging between iPhones and other smartphones is deliberately degraded and made less secure by Apple,” Tong said in a news release. “Want to quickly ‘tap-to-pay’ using a digital wallet other than Apple Wallet? No can do. Non-Apple smartwatches won’t fully sync with the iPhone, and the Apple Watch won’t sync with other smartphones. These are unfair and anticompetitive restrictions, among others, imposed by Apple to keep rivals out and prices up.”

Apple’s antitrust policy says that the company is “committed to conducting business ethically, honestly, and in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations, including U.S. and international antitrust and competition laws.”

Connecticut previously joined the DOJ in a similar lawsuit against Google, alleging illegal monopoly control over digital advertising, the first major lawsuit under the Sherman Act.

Plaintiffs say Apple has attempted to keep users within their own ecosystem and “unfairly” discouraged competition by making the quality of cross-platform messaging worse, limiting the functionality of thirdparty smartwatches and inhibiting the creation of cross-platform third-party digital wallets, Tong’s news release said.

“Apple is abusing its monopoly power and manipulating the smartphone market to unfairly disadvantage competing phones,” Tong said.

A similar lawsuit in the European Union resulted in a $2 billion judgment against the tech giant.

Apple revenues hit $383 billion in 2023. Tong noted that Apple’s net income is $97 billion.

Connecticut joins Arizona, California, the District of Columbia, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Vermont and Wisconsin on the civil complaint.

Jordan Fenster/Hearst Connecticut Media Group Connecticut has joined an antitrust lawsuit alleging Apple has unfairly monopolized the smartphone market.