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Apple’s DOJ antitrust battle sparks disputes with Epic, Samsung, Oura, Roblox, more
Several tech companies are pushing back against subpoenas issued by Apple and the DOJ in their ongoing antitrust battle. Here are the details.
In March 2024, the Department of Justice and 15 states, plus the District of Columbia, filed a lawsuit accusing Apple of restricting competition, limiting interoperability with rival products, and making it harder for consumers to switch to competing devices. Apple denies these allegations.
Since then, despite recent reports of settlement talks happening behind the scenes, the two sides have clashed repeatedly over discovery, which is the pretrial process through which both sides exchange evidence relevant to the case.
As part of its effort to refute the DOJ’s arguments, Apple has subpoenaed several third-party companies and organizations, seeking documents and information relevant to its defense. That includes Epic Games, Samsung Electronics America, Meta, Oura, Garmin, Playco, Ultrahuman, PayPal, Match Group, and the Connectivity Standards Alliance, among others.
The DOJ and plaintiff states, in turn, have issued their own subpoenas, including to Roblox, Epic Games, Snap, and the Connectivity Standards Alliance, seeking evidence to support their allegations against Apple.
Google, Microsoft, JPMorgan Chase, and Capital One are also named in legal documents.
In essence, both sides are trying to use data from Apple’s competitors and companies with which it has commercial relationships to establish how its policies affect competition, and whether those policies are justified or constitute anticompetitive behavior.
Over the past couple of days, multiple letters submitted to the court reveal disagreements over the scope of the subpoenas, the information being requested, and whether the companies should be required to produce certain documents.
Epic Games, for instance, argues that Apple’s requests for documents from three previous lawsuits (Epic v. Apple in the US, Epic v. Apple in Australia, and Epic v. Google in the US), along with extensive searches of internal files belonging to three senior executives, including its CEO, would be disproportionately burdensome.
Still, the company has offered to produce several categories of information, including Fortnite user and revenue data, contracts with Google and Samsung, and records relating to Apple’s Core Technology Fee.