Altogether, the lost value totaled $33B, but experts say that there’s little to worry about — and indeed, the announcement could even be considered good news for the companies …
The Justice Department didn’t name names, stating that at this stage it is a broad look at tech giants “to understand whether there are antitrust problems that need addressing.” However, given that the terms of the antitrust investigation are to look at the behaviors of “dominant tech firms,” it is clear that Apple is among those companies in the spotlight.
Many are seeing this as a threat to Apple, including Apple Card partner bank Goldman Sachs, which this month warned investors to avoid tech stocks which become subject to antitrust lawsuits.
The review is geared toward examining the practices of online platforms that dominate internet search, social media and retail services, the department said.
However, experts cited by Business Insider disagree. An academic and antitrust lawyer were both of the view that this was a political announcement, the government keen to be seen to be doing something, even if it’s unlikely to lead to much.
Indeed, Balto went further.
The announcement was an unusually public performance by a federal regulator which typically prizes confidentiality in such matters. That’s because it was basically a notice, intended particularly to a key figure in Congress, that the Justice Department will now be spearheading the antitrust investigations into the big tech companies, said David Balto, an antitrust lawyer in Washington D.C. with decades of experience working for and with competition regulators officials there.
For tech companies, the DOJs’ announcement was if anything, a subtle indication that the government may not come down as hard on them as it might seem, he said.
That’s because it’s the Justice Department, not the FTC, laying claim to the issue.
For his part, Professor Crane says it doesn’t much matter which agency takes the lead — nothing much is likely to come of any antitrust investigation.
“I don’t think anybody’s going to lose any more sleep that this is all with the Justice Department,” Balto said. “If anything, they’ll feel more comfortable in their legal position.”
Apple recently testified to Congress on the issue. The DOJ investigation isn’t the only antitrust battle facing Apple: iOS developers have filed a class-action suit over App Store practices; the Supreme Court gave the go-ahead for another one by customers; and the European Union is investigating an antitrust complaint made by Spotify.
“The kind of blockbuster, ‘let’s break them up’ case that is being trumpeted politically, I just don’t see that being in the offing,” Crane said.
Photo: Shutterstock
