Apple Pay Russia’s antitrust agency on Thursday said it had written to Apple asking the company to explain why users of Apple devices in Russia do not have access to full functionality of banking and payment services. a href=”https://www.reuters.com/technology/russian-antitrust-agency-complains-apple-over-users-limited-payment-services-2024-04-04/”>Reuters: ‎ Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has fined Apple around $26 million in the last two years related to what it described as Apple’s abuse of its dominant position concerning the mobile apps market and in-app payments. Apple has previously “respectfully disagreed” with a FAS ruling that Apple’s distribution of apps through its iOS operating system gave its own products a competitive advantage. The FAS said most Russian banks had been removed from the App Store and that Apple was not…

Spawned by the U.S. DOJ’s antitrust action against Apple, the compan is facing multiple class-action lawsuits that could affect millions of consumers. Keerthi Vedantam for Kiplinger: ‎ [A]t least three class-action suits in California and New Jersey were filed on March 22, a day after the DOJ and 16 other state and district attorneys general slapped the iPhone maker with an antitrust suit, charging that it illegally monopolizes the smartphone market and stifles competition. According to the report, the class-action suits bring charges similar to what the government alleges.  One of the class-action complaints filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California charges that Apple’s smartphones have technological, psychological and expense barriers that make it difficult…

Apple has been targeted by multiple new consumer class action lawsuits accusing the company of “monopolizing the smartphone market,” piggybacking on an antitrust case lodged by the U.S. Justice Department last week. Mike Scarcella for Reuters: ‎ At least three proposed class actions have been filed since Friday in California and New Jersey federal courts by iPhone owners who claim Apple inflated the cost of its products through anticompetitive conduct. The lawsuits, seeking to represent millions of consumers, mirror the Justice Department’s claims that Apple violated U.S. antitrust law… Apple has denied the government’s allegations. The Cupertino, California-based company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the consumer lawsuits. Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you…

CNBC’s Jim Cramer this week threw cold water on the U.S. DOJ’s antitrust case against Apple, calling this action a buying opportunity for AAPL stock. Julie Coleman for CNBC: ‎ “The decision by the Justice Department to go against Apple will end up like any of the myriad analysts who’ve gone from buy to hold on Apple’s stock during my time,” he said. “It’s creating still one more buying opportunity, because the regulators, they ain’t got nothing for you.” [T]o Cramer, the DOJ hasn’t found any “smoking guns” that implicate Apple as a guilty party. Cramer maintained that this lawsuit creates a buying opportunity for the stock. “I just got a whole brand spanking new reason to buy Apple, don’t…

The U.S. DOJ’s Apple case is wrong on the facts and law and should never have been brought, said legal experts who weighed in on the government’s perplexing claims. Mike Scarcella for Reuters: ‎ The U.S. government’s antitrust lawsuit against Apple… may prove to be an imperfect blueprint for addressing smartphone competition… and the government as a result may face a tougher time in taking on Apple, legal experts said. The Department of Justice, along with 15 state governments, accused Apple of unlawfully monopolizing the smartphone market through restrictions on app developers that curb choice and innovation, which it said forces consumers to pay higher prices. Apple said the government is wrong on the facts and law. The government has…

The U.S. DOJ on Thursday sued Apple, accusing the consumer electronics giant of violating antitrust laws, adding to the growing list of bad news accumulating on the stock this year. Patrick Seitz for Investor’s Business Daily: ‎ The lawsuit alleges that Apple’s conduct makes it harder for Americans to switch smartphones, undermines innovation for apps, and imposes extraordinary costs on developers, businesses and consumers… “Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies violate the antitrust laws,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a news release. MacDailyNews Take: The average app price in the Apple App Store as of January 2024 is 79-cents. So, according to the U.S. DOJ’s Merrick Garland, apps that on average cost considerably less than…