The Justice Department charged that Apple "will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly" if it was left unchallenged. The company said in response that the lawsuit could set a dangerous precedent. The US Department of Justice filed suit against Apple on Thursday, accusing it of monopolizing the smartphone market. "Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies violate the antitrust laws," US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. "If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly." What else do we know about the lawsuit? The civil suit, joined by 15 states and the District of Columbia, charged Apple with using its dominance in the smartphone ecosystem to get more money from consumers, developers, content creators, artists, publishers, small businesses and merchants. The lawsuit said it was focused on “freeing smartphone markets from Apple's anticompetitive and exclusionary conduct and restoring competition to lower smartphone prices for consumers, reducing fees for developers, and preserving innovation for the future." "Apple repeatedly chooses to make its products worse for consumers to prevent competition from emerging," the suit said. The case centers around Apple's app store, which sets strict conditions on developers seeking to reach iPhone users, who number around 136 million in the United States. The lawsuit is also examining the Apple Wallet, which is the only application allowed on the iPhone to make tap payments in stores. Prosecutors also accuse Apple of making it harder for users to interact with people using Android phones in Apple's messaging app. How did Apple respond to the lawsuit? In response, Apple said the suit would threaten the company's ability to meet consumers' demands. "This lawsuit threatens who we are and the principles that set Apple products apart in fiercely competitive markets," it said. "If successful, it would hinder our ability to create the kind of technology people expect from Apple — where hardware, software, and services intersect." The company called the lawsuit "wrong on the facts and the law" and said it would "vigorously defend against it." Apple said the lawsuit could "set a dangerous precedent, empowering government to take a heavy hand in designing people's technology." Apple faced multiple antitrust probes This US suit is not the first antitrust proceeding to be launched against Apple. Earlier this month, the European Union fined Apple $1.8 billion after it found that the company had been unfairly favoring its own music streaming service over those of its rivals. Apple has also faced antitrust probes in Japan and Korea, as well as lawsuits from rivals such as Epic Games.

EU official Thierry Breton said regulators are looking into Apple's termination of a competing app store by Fortnite creator Epic Games. The new Digital Markets Act EU regulation could crack down on Apple's practices. The EU on Thursday said it would look into an ongoing dispute between tech giant Apple and Epic Games, the developer of the popular Fortnite video game franchise.  Epic Games has accused Apple of shutting down its efforts to establish its own game store on iOS devices in Europe. The developer says this breaches the new Digital Markets Act (DMA) EU regulation, which came into force on Thursday.  "Under the DMA, there is no room for threats by gatekeepers to silence developers, European Commissioner for Internal Market Thierry Breton wrote on X. "I have asked our services to look into Apple's termination of Epic's developer account as a matter of priority."   The European Commission, in a separate statement earlier in the day, also asked Apple to elaborate on how its actions towards Epic comply with DMA regulations.  Apple has claimed that Epic breached contractual obligations by setting up its own app store. The tech giant says that due to a earlier court decision, "Apple has the right to terminate 'any or all of Epic Games' wholly owned subsidiaries, affiliates and/or other entities under Epic Games' control at any time and at Apple's sole discretion."   Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney told journalists Wednesday that there needs to be "swift action" regarding Apple's alleged violation of the DMA.  EU cracking down on digital 'gatekeepers' The DMA will put Apple and other big tech companies under growing scrutiny in the coming months. The regulation, designed by the EU to ensure "fair and open digital markets," targets six corporations — Google parent company Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, TikTok developer ByteDance, Meta and Microsoft.  The European Commission said these gatekeepers "will not be allowed to use unfair practices towards the business users and customers who depend on them to gain an undue advantage. This includes tracking users withouth consent or preventing users from uninstalling any pre-installed app."   The EU says the rules will ensure "more and better services" and "fairer prices," among other benefits. Violators could face massive fines if they break the rules. Apple has said the DMA regulation opens up iOS users to security risks in Europe. If European users download apps from outside the IOS system, Apple contends, it will be more likely that they be targeted by malware, scams or illicit services like drugs.

The EU Commission said that it had found that Apple violated antitrust regulations by unfairly favoring its own music streaming service. Apple said their rival Spotify is the biggest beneficiary of the decision. The European Union on Monday hit tech giant Apple with an antitrust fine worth €1.8 billion ($1.9 billion). The statement said that the company had been unfairly favoring its own music streaming service over those of its rivals. What was the reason for the fine? "The Commission found that Apple applied restrictions on app developers preventing them from informing iOS users about alternative and cheaper music subscription services available outside of the app," the European Commission said in a statement. "This is illegal under EU antitrust rules." Apple charges a 30% fee for sales made through apps in the iOS operating systems. It also prohibits apps within the operating system from providing links to external sign-up pages in order to bypass the fee. Apple is one of six major companies that have to apply with new EU competition regulations under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) by March 6. Besides Apple, the EU has launched a number of antitrust proceedings into large tech companies, including a probe into Microsoft over its packaging of the messaging app Teams. The bloc has also handed Google penalties of €8 billion in total over the past few years, including a 2022 penalty for having its Android phones favor the Google search engine. What did the EU say? The European Commissioner for Competition, Margrethe Vestager, said that the Commission had ordered Apple to remove anti-steering provisions and refrain from similar practices in the future. "From now on Apple will have to allow music streaming developers to communicate freely with their own users," she said. Vestager said that the lump sum of €1.8 billion had been added as a deterrant since the basic amount of the fine, which she compared to a "parking ticket," would have been quite small. The total fine of €1.84 billion euros amounts to 0.5% of Apple's worldwide turnover, according to Vestager. What did Apple say about the fine? Apple said that the biggest beneficiary of the decision is the Swedish streaming service Spotify, which sells subscriptions through its own website and not through Apple's app store. The firm said it would appeal the decision. "The decision... ignores the realities of a market that is thriving, competitive, and growing fast," the company said in a statement, arguing that the Commission failed "to uncover any credible evidence of consumer harm." "Apple will appeal." Apple said that Spotify holds a 56% share of Europe's streaming market and had met 65 times with the commissioner over eight years. "Ironically, in the name of competition, today's decision just cements the dominant position of a successful European company that is the digital music market's runaway leader," Apple said.  

Apple has ended its decadelong autonomous vehicle effort, known as Project Titan. The stock market breathed a sigh of relief in response, with insiders pointing to areas where Apple should redouble its efforts instead. Traditional car manufacturers in Europe, Asia and the US face a number of problems, some of them of their own making. To make matters worse, the creeping concern that tech companies could crowd legacy firms out of the personal mobility market looms over manufacturers like the figurative sword of Damocles. This threat materialized when Google parent Alphabet and Apple announced their self-driving car endeavors, Waymo and Project Titan. Traditional car manufacturers worried they would be reduced to hardware delivery services, providing motorized base frames for "smartphones on wheels." As of this week, however, these fears might be a thing of the past, with Apple announcing that it was canceling its Titan electric vehicle project. Instead, New York-based business daily The Wall Street Journal reported that some of the 2,000 car-developing staff members would shift to working on artificial intelligence (AI). That move could affect several hundred hardware developers, according to the US media group Bloomberg. The AI field, specifically using programs such as ChatGPT to create new content from ever-growing mounds of data, is considered far more promising. Despite this, layoffs are to be expected. E-cars a difficult market for Apple Many insiders had been generally reserved about Apple's efforts to enter the auto industry, arguing that its business model was entirely different than that of the tech industry.  They pointed out that electronic components for car manufacturing could not simply be sent by mail, or digitally uploaded to customers' computers. Instead, the business required shipping large and heavy parts across the globe, and maintaining them regularly. Insiders also contended that, not least due to the many regulations in the industry, the development cycles for automotive products lasts much longer — not weeks and months, but years. Finally, the profit margins in the automotive sector are much lower than in Apple's tech business. From the very beginning, car manufacturers had cautioned that building and selling a car was not easy. In the past few years, there was speculation that Apple might wind down its own development efforts simply by buying up a large component supplier or car manufacturer. The potential involvement of British luxury car builder McLaren was the subject of much debate. Elon Musk, the founder of the US-based automotive and clean energy company Tesla, said he once offered to sell his car manufacturing business to Apple amid production challenges hounding Tesla's Model 3 line. But, as Musk recounted, Apple CEO Tim Cook wasn't even interesting in talking. Billions down the drain? Project Titan cost Apple over $10 billion (€9.3 billion), according to a report this week in The New York Times. Bloomberg estimated that the car development costs broke down to $1 billion each year. Other market observers, such as analysts at the US consulting firm Guidehouse, believe Apple invested between $15 billion and $20 billion in development. That's money that will now be freed up for other projects, including in the car sector. In a report on Apple's exit from the autonomous vehicle race, Wall Street analyst Erik Woodring wrote that "Apple is exhibiting some welcome cost discipline on longer-tailed future projects." He suggested that AI might be one of these endeavors. Speaking to Apple's work on electric vehicles (EV) and autonomous vehicles (AV), he added that "Apple's EV/AV efforts were too far behind well-funded competitors to represent a viable path towards commercialization and product differentiation." The stock market responded to the announcement with a fair bit of relief, even if the cancellation did not lead to a jump in the share price. But a small uptick in the company's stocks after the decision was announced indicated that investors were glad to see Apple put its expensive car project in the rearview mirror. 'A good decision' to stop Project Titan Most investors agree that Apple's cancellation of Project Titan was the next logical step. Jonathan Curtis, chief investment officer of the US-based Franklin Equity Group, told the German business newspaper Handelsblatt he believed it was the right choice for Apple to get involved in the automotive industry. Citing the well-worn adage that cars are essentially "computers on wheels" nowadays, he added that his trust had invested billions in Apple. Curtis also told the German paper that he thought Apple's cancellation of its Project Titan was also "a good decision." Now, Curtis argued, Apple would have to focus on ensuring that the AI on its phones ran smoothly. He pointed to one of Apple's uncharacteristic failures, asking: "What is one of the worst products that Apple's released in the last 10 years?" The answer, he said, was Siri, Apple's virtual voice assistant. "If Apple can fix Siri," he argued, "they could launched a massive new iPhone cycle." Then the tech giant could sell new services that offered real added value in association with Siri software, Curtis said. At a digital shareholder's meeting last week, Apple executive Cook announced that his company had new AI features in store. Traditionally, such promises to "break new ground" are saved for Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June. 

Apple on Tuesday unveiled a new iPhone that will use USB-C charger ports. Previous iPhone models had used Apple's own "Lightning" charger ports.  In June 2022, the European Union passed a law requiring all devices to be compatible with a USB Type-C charging port by late 2024, arguing that it will reduce electronic waste and save money for consumers. Apple had contested the law as unnecessary. What do we know about the iPhone 15? "USB-C has become a universally accepted standard. So we're bringing USB-C to iPhone 15," said Kaiann Drance, Apple's Vice President of iPhone Marketing at a launch event. Apple had long argued that its Lightning chargers were more secure than USB-C chargers. The company also said that the iPhone 15 would have internal components that simplify repair and a new frame that allows the back glass to be easily replaced. Last month, Apple said it was endorsing the passage of a California law that required tech producers to enable people to fix their devices without taking them back to companies. The firm also announced that the iPhone 15 batteries would be made from 100% recycled cobalt and that it would no longer use leather in its product. It added that a new watch will be its first carbon-neutral product. Apple says that it aims to be carbon-neutral by 2030, including in its supply chain. The announcement comes after China imposed restrictions on the use of iPhones at government offices and state-backed entities. Sales of iPhones, which account for nearly half of Apple's revenues, dropped 2.4% last quarter. Apple shares also slid on the stock market following Beijing's measures.

From Tesla to Apple, leading U.S. corporations are accelerating their push into India as an alternative production hub to China amid protracted tensions between Washington and Beijing. Tesla CEO Elon Musk met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New York on Tuesday. The electric vehicle maker is reportedly in talks with New Delhi to set up a factory in India, expanding a production network that spans the U.S., China, Germany and Mexico. "I am confident that Tesla will be in India, and will do so as soon as humanly possible," Musk said afterward. On Thursday, Micron Technology said it will invest $825 million to build a semiconductor assembly and testing facility in the Indian state of Gujarat. The project is expected to receive support from New Delhi and Gujarat. Amazon Web Services, Amazon.com's cloud unit, said in May that it will invest 1.06 trillion rupees ($12.9 billion) in India by 2030, including to build new data centers. This represents a major increase from the 309 billion rupees invested between 2016 and 2022. These moves come amid heightened tensions between the U.S. and China. Since 2018, Washington has imposed restrictions on trade with Beijing and worked to decouple American supply chains from China in areas that affect economic security. This has made it more difficult for U.S. companies to buy and sell Chinese goods and services, raising the risk of doing business in China. India's importance to American businesses has grown in the meantime. The U.S. accounted for 22% of foreign direct investment to India in 2020. It was the second-largest investor in India last year, after Singapore, and could account for an even larger slice when including indirect investments such as those made through the Cayman Islands. India's appeal stems largely from the size of its domestic market. The country reportedly overtook China as the world's most populous this year. Its per-capita gross domestic product is expected to reach $2,600 this year and top $3,000 in 2025, the International Monetary Fund projects. Consumer spending generally appears to accelerate at the $3,000 mark, which China crossed in 2008, the year it hosted the Beijing Olympics. Purchasing power in India is expected to continue increasing beyond its largest cities. Apple opened its first stores in India in April, and wants to shift more output there from China with the help of suppliers like Hon Hai Precision Industry, known as Foxconn. The U.S. tech company reportedly aims to produce around 25% of its products in India, up from 5%-7% currently. European and Japanese companies also are increasing investment in India in light of China-related risks. In April, Suzuki Motor said through a subsidiary that it will expand annual capacity in India by 1 million vehicles from the current 2.25 million. Modi in 2014 set a goal of expanding manufacturing to 25% of India's GDP. The recent surge in foreign investments could help the country finally meet this target. "A new world order is forming, and we have to seize the opportunity," Modi said at a semiconductor industry event in 2022. Source: asia.nikkei.com

The "Reality Pro," or so it is rumored to be named, could pit Apple against Meta in competition over technology where real and digital worlds meet. Apple Inc. is widely expected to announce on Monday a new mixed-reality headgear at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference in California.  It would mark the tech giant's most significant product launch since the 2015 Apple Watch release.  The iPhone maker has so far limited augmented-reality efforts to technology that works on its existing devices. But it seems set to tap into the new generation of technology where real and digital worlds converge. The highly anticipated headset will put Apple in competition with Facebook's parent Meta, which has been working for years to push its parallel digital universe, or the "metaverse."  What we know about Apple's 'Reality Pro' headset According to media reports citing analysts, Apple is expected to spotlight a "Reality Pro" headset, with a price tag of around $3,000 and custom-made software for the gear that could resemble a pair of ski goggles.  The goggles are expected to have a slick Apple-family design, paired with the capability of toggling between virtual or augmented reality, which is referred to as mixed reality or external reality (XR). While hopes are high for Apple to boast surprising technology, the goggle's high price could leave many eager fans disappointed. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives estimated that Apple could sell just 150,000 units during the headset's first year on the market — a low figure for a company that sells annually more than 200 million of its marquee product, the iPhone.

Hundreds of people waited in line outside the new Apple store in the financial hub Mumbai. The company is planning to boost its production in India — the second-largest smartphone market in the world. Apple CEO Tim Cook was in Mumbai on Tuesday to inaugurate the company's first retail store in India. "India has such a beautiful culture and an incredible energy, and we're excited to build on our long-standing history," Cook said in a statement. Bloggers, tech analysts and Bollywood celebrities were invited to the opening of the new store in Mumbai's Jio World Drive shopping mall. About 300 Apple fans were seen lining up outside the store, some of them waiting since the previous night. "The fanboy inside me would not listen," 30-year-old Purav Mehta, who wanted to get Cook's autograph, told Reuters news agency. A second store is set to open in the capital, New Delhi, on Thursday. Cook is also expected to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and India's deputy IT minister later this week. Eye on the Indian market The bulk of Apple's smartphone and tablets are assembled in China, but the tech giant also has plans to expand production in India. The South Asian country of 1.4 billion people is also the second-largest smartphone market in the world.  Apple has been operating in India for more than 25 years, and it began manufacturing products there in 2017. According to Counterpoint Research, India produces around 13 million iPhones every year, up from under 5 million three years ago. The tech giant has been selling its products in India online and through authorized retailers, but regulatory clearances and the pandemic had delayed its plan to open a flagship store in the country. Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said last week that Apple plans to have 25% of their global production come out of India in the next five years.

Apple farmers in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri region are setting an example as they are growing the fruit in large quantities on small agricultural lands.   The agricultural land lies in the Gabbar Panchayat in Bughal Block. This cold weather area is located in the heart of the Pir Panjal mountains. The farmers mostly belonging to poor backgrounds, earlier used to harvest maize and wheat. These farmers have now shifted to apple farming. They are now engaged in growing almost all the best types and qualities of apples. Apart from apples, they are also busy cultivating walnuts.   “These apples are from our farm, they are of very good quality, our Prime Minister Modi has said about developing agriculture, he has also given us land, and we poor people are doing very well by growing apples on it,” a local farmer told. Source: ANI

Kashmir's apple orchards, a backbone of the economy that supports nearly half the people living there, are deserted with fruit rotting on the trees at a time when they should be bustling with harvesters. Losses are mounting as insurgent groups pressure pickers, traders and drivers to shun the industry to protest an Indian government crackdown. Apple growers call it a "silent war declared on their stomachs." "That's almost $1,200 worth of produce. It's all a waste now," said apple farmer Mohammad Shafi, pointing to a heap of rotten apples thrown into a pit in Wuyan, a small village 37 miles (60 kms) east of Srinagar, the region's main city. Kashmir's pristine mountainous landscapes, ski resorts, lake houseboats and orchards have long made it a tourist attraction. But an armed rebellion that began 30 years ago in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir rages on. In August, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist-led government stripped Kashmir of its semi-autonomous status and imposed a strict crackdown, sending in tens of thousands more troops, detaining thousands of people and blocking mobile phones and internet services. More than two months later, the region remains under a communications blockade. Authorities have restored landline services and some cellphones, but not internet, making it difficult to reach traders outside the region to conduct business. Apple growers were expecting a bumper crop this year. Now, they say, losses are in the millions of dollars and the business might suffer its worst year since the beginning of the insurgency that has resulted in almost 70,000 deaths. "It all started in August. We haven't recovered since," Shafi said. On Wednesday, police said suspected militants shot dead an apple trader and injured another in a late-night attack in southern Shopian. The same day, a migrant laborer who worked at a brick kiln was also shot dead, police said. That followed the arrests Tuesday of two militants suspected of shooting dead a truck driver near an apple orchard where he had collected 800 boxes of fruit. On Sept. 6, unknown gunmen fired at a fruit trader in northern Sopore, injuring him and four members of his family. So, the orchards lie empty of harvesters, as overripe fruit ripens and thuds to the ground. The apple trade, worth $1.6 billion in exports in 2017, accounts for nearly a fifth of Kashmir's economy and provides livelihoods for 3.3 million. This year, less than 10% of the harvested apples had left the region by Oct. 6. "It will take us years to recover from this shock," said Basheer Ahmad Basheer, who heads an apple growers' union in Srinagar. The authorities set up four wholesale markets to help support the industry, but as of Oct. 6 those markets had only managed to buy $300,000 worth of apples out of what was expected to be a crop worth close to $1.9 billion this year. "We have only managed to dispatch two trucks from this place to outside Kashmir," said Anshul Mittal, a government official at a wholesale market set up in Parimpora, Srinagar. Many of the more than one dozen officials sent to help out at the market said the effort was failing, partly because truckers are refusing to take the risk of shipping the apples. None wanted to be named as they feared retribution from higher-ups. The worst-hit region is southern Kashmir, where dense apple orchards stretch through hundreds of villages. Shafi's orchard in Wuyan usually produces almost 10,000 boxes of apples per year. He says he's only sold 1,000 boxes this year. Half of the rest of the harvest had to be thrown out because the apples were bruised from falling off the trees, he said. Growers like Shafi often rely on loans to pay for labor, fertilizer and other costs. "A few days ago a friend came to me asking for the repayment of loans. I wept and begged in front of him as I have no money to give back to him," Shafi said. The despair trickles down to unskilled workers like 22-year-old Sheeraz Ahman, who was counting on 45 days of work to earn more than $400 to help support his family. So far, he's only gotten five days of work. "We are in a desperate situation," Ahmad said. Still, there are fewer laborers looking for work than usual: many left the region at the same time tourists were advised to get out in August. One young apple picker, who asked not to be named out of fear of the authorities, said he preferred to be hungry rather than trapped in an army camp. The army has denied allegations of arrests and torture. But rumors of such tactics have alarmed those who usually would be working in the orchards. So have the shootings. Police blamed a local rebel for the Sept. 6 shooting and claimed insurgents were intimidating traders and truck drivers. Many farmers told The Associated Press such threats were keeping them away from the orchards, regardless of who was brandishing weapons. Beyond the crippling of this bedrock of the Kashmir economy is the symbolic importance of its apples. Some working in the industry said they preferred to let the apples rot to foil Indian efforts to show the situation has returned to normal. The government's crackdown, by stifling communications and provoking the insurgents, has made that impossible, said Aabid Gulzar, a 19-year-old English literature student who also works as a laborer at an apple orchard to help support his family of six. "They (India) can blame anybody they want to but who created this rapidly deteriorating situation in first place?" he asked. Source: AP/UNB AH