Tim Cook dismisses DOJ lawsuit as 'misguided'

Ahead of Apple's second-quarter earnings call, CEO Tim Cook addressed the ongoing antitrust lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice, calling it "misguided."

Apple's second-quarter earnings, which surpassed Wall Street predictions, highlight the company's financial strength and resilience. In the same breath, CEO Tim Cook addressed the ongoing antitrust lawsuit filed by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), dismissing it as misguided and affirming it's not a distraction for Apple.

"I think the case is misguided, and we're going to fight it," Cook said in a comment to CNBC. " It's my job to make sure it doesn't become a distraction. And so, you know, if you look at what they're trying to do, is essentially use the law to define how we design products. And that shouldn't be like that."

The DOJ claims Apple has stifled competition by enforcing restrictive contracts and high commissions on developers, among other issues. However, Apple counters these allegations.

It highlights discrepancies in how market share is calculated — pointing out that Apple's share based on unit sales is less than half in the US, despite claims exceeding 65% revenue-based market share.

Apple defends its position, citing that 85% of developers don't pay any commissions, and the rest may qualify for a reduced 15% fee. The company also references its previous legal victory against Epic Games as a testament to the legitimacy of its commission structures.

The lawsuit also accuses Apple of limiting the functionality of competing apps and services through its control over APIs and other platform capabilities. Apple rebuts, asserting that its policies aim to protect user privacy, enhance security, and improve overall user experience, not stifle competition.

Moreover, adjustments in its guidelines have made provisions for more inclusive operations of services like game streaming on its platforms.

The case is not expected to come to a conclusion for years, and appeals will take even longer.

9 Comments

tht 5592 comments · 23 Years

About 6 months ago

Yup, the DOJ is stretching quite a bit here if their initial document summarizes what they have.

Will be interesting to read the arguments and the judges decision on the DOJ’s market construction. Depending on judge, they could just dismiss the case and tell the DOJ come back with better arguments.

The judge who lets the case move on with the DOJ’s “revenue of performance smartphone market” construction is going to be opening a crazy can of worms.

jdw 1440 comments · 18 Years

Although some have contended such a lawsuit was brewing under President Trump, the fact remains it wasn't made official under the Biden administration. What's rather amusing about this is that Apple has long been Left-leaning in its politics, and technically speaking, the current DOJ is a part of the current Left-leaning administration. So I cannot help but muse at this, with the Left battling the Left. Even so, I love Tim Cook's fighting spirit because I too believe the lawsuit is misguided.

It's like Merrick Garland has nothing better to do than randomly pick a high profile target and then dream up some litigation that he hopes will make himself and the DOJ look good, as per their thinking they are doing all this for "the American people" or "the greater good." But what they really are doing is wasting taxpayer dollars for show. With that said, most Americans are technically at fault for not showing more outrage over this DOJ lawsuit. People just mindlessly go about their day, then suddenly complain when things get more expensive. That's right, your tax dollars at work, making things more expensive for you in the end, which is the inverse opposite of what the DOJ claims this lawsuit is supposed to do (making prices of Apple stuff cheaper for the consumer).

paisleydisco 140 comments · 7 Years

Merrick Garland is a joke. Totally not up for the job. Can't even fight fascism when it's spitting in his face. Weak old bag.

sconosciuto 289 comments · 4 Years

jdw said:

Although some have contended such a lawsuit was brewing under President Trump, the fact remains it wasn't made official under the Biden administration. What's rather amusing about this is that Apple has long been Left-leaning in its politics, and technically speaking, the current DOJ is a part of the current Left-leaning administration. So I cannot help but muse at this, with the Left battling the Left. Even so, I love Tim Cook's fighting spirit because I too believe the lawsuit is misguided.

It's like Merrick Garland has nothing better to do than randomly pick a high profile target and then dream up some litigation that he hopes will make himself and the DOJ look good, as per their thinking they are doing all this for "the American people" or "the greater good." But what they really are doing is wasting taxpayer dollars for show. With that said, most Americans are technically at fault for not showing more outrage over this DOJ lawsuit. People just mindlessly go about their day, then suddenly complain when things get more expensive. That's right, your tax dollars at work, making things more expensive for you in the end, which is the inverse opposite of what the DOJ claims this lawsuit is supposed to do (making prices of Apple stuff cheaper for the consumer).

That’s a lot of words to say LeTs Go BrAnDoN