Read the 4 emails from Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, and Apple execs cited in the DOJ's antitrust case
Aaron Mok
- Apple is facing a federal antitrust lawsuit.
- In legal documents, the DOJ cites internal Apple emails as evidence of anti-competitive tactics.
The US Department of Justice is suing Apple, accusing it of using anti-competitive practices to dominate the smartphone market.
In court documents, prosecutors cited some internal Apple emails to back some of their allegations.
The DOJ and 16 attorney generals allege the iPhone maker — one of the biggest tech companies in the world — has illegally maintained a smartphone monopoly by "delaying, degrading, or outright blocking" other technology in the smartphone market," according to the lawsuit.
An Apple spokesperson responded to the lawsuit, saying it was "wrong on the facts and the law, and we will vigorously defend against it."
The DOJ referenced everything from Apple's smartwatch compatibility to those annoying green text message bubbles as evidence of the tech giant's illegal moves.
Internal messages were included in the legal filing as well. Here are passages from the four emails sent by Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, and other Apple execs.
In 2010, then CEO-Steve Jobs wrote that the company would "force" developers to use its payment system.
Job's email was a response to a top Apple executive who told him that it was "not fun to watch" a woman in an ad for the Kindle e-reader switching from the iPhone to an Android.
The DOJ said the email was proof that Apple has "repeatedly responded to competitive threats like this by making it harder or more expensive for its users and developers to leave than by making it more attractive for them to stay," according to the lawsuit.
The DOJ alleges Apple has suppressed the development of cloud-steaming apps and services "that would allow consumers to enjoy high-quality video games and other cloud-based applications without having to pay for expensive smartphone hardware."
In 2016, Apple's former Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Philip Schiller forwarded an email to CEO Tim Cook that "moving iMessage to Android will hurt us more than help us."
The DOJ's lawsuit accuses Apple of intentionally barring Android devices from using its iMessage app to make rival's messaging apps worse.
The DOJ said the green text messages sent to iPhone users by Android users contain grainy videos and doesn't allow Android users to edit their messages.
In 2019, the vice president of product marketing for the Apple Watch wrote the company's smartwatch may "help prevent iPhone customers from switching."
The DOJ used the unidentified exec's email to back its allegation that Apple intentionally refused to make third-party smartwatches compatible with the iPhone to lock iPhone users into exclusively using Apple products.
Apple claims that making the Apple Watch work with its rival would "remove [an] iPhone differentiator," according to the lawsuit.
In 2022, CEO Tim Cook gave a curt response to concerns about iPhone and Android compatibility.
The legal filings say someone sent an email to Cook asking whether Apple would improve iPhone-Android messaging.
"I can't send my mom certain videos," the author wrote, according to the suit.
According to the lawsuit, Cook responded: "Buy your mom an iPhone."
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