For more than a decade, Apple could do almost no wrong. The iPhone made it the world’s most valuable company. The App Store helped launch businesses such as Uber and Airbnb. And the company’s new products made it a player in health, Hollywood, and finance. Now, the difficulties are piling up. The Justice Department filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday for giving its own products advantages that it deprived rivals of having. The suit is the latest in a series of actions brought against the company by regulators on four continents.
The troubles are testing the resiliency of Apple’s brand and undermining its business dominance, even though Apple’s products remain popular and continue to power an extremely profitable business. The company reported $97 billion in profit last year on $386 billion in sales.
Here’s a look at the challenges ahead.
**U.S. v. Apple**
The Justice Department filed a sweeping antitrust lawsuit against Apple on Thursday that takes direct aim at the company’s most important business: the iPhone. The government argued in an 88-page lawsuit that Apple broke antitrust laws by preventing other companies from offering applications that compete with Apple products, like its digital wallet. The suit follows a yearslong investigation into Apple that focused on the ways that the company has controlled the user experience on iPhones and other devices to create what critics call an uneven playing field.
**European Regulators v. Apple**
On March 4, the European Commission fined Apple 1.8 billion euros ($1.95 billion) for thwarting competition by preventing music streaming rivals from offering users promotions and subscription upgrades.
**South Korea and the Netherlands v. Apple**
Apple is facing fines from regulators in the Netherlands and South Korea. In 2021, Dutch regulators ruled that Apple violated competition laws in the dating app market by preventing services such as Tinder from using payment systems other than the one Apple provides.
**Japan, Australia, and Britain v. Apple**
Several other countries are exploring legislation or regulation that could force Apple to loosen its grip, including Japan, Australia, and Britain. The regulatory changes they are discussing could require Apple to offer alternative payment options and reduce its commissions.
**China v. Apple**
Last fall, China began telling employees of government agencies not to use iPhones for work. The authorities made no public pronouncements beyond pointing out that there were “media reports” about security flaws in iPhones. But the directive has rippled through the country’s smartphone market.
**Epic v. Apple**
Apple largely triumphed over Epic Games, the maker of Fortnite, after the video game company sued Apple in 2020 over the App Store. But a federal judge struck a serious blow against Apple’s control of the App Store, ruling that it violated California’s competition laws by preventing app makers from providing alternative ways to pay for services.
**Developers v. Apple**
Before European regulators began enforcing a new competition law to give customers more choice this month, app makers were complaining that Apple’s response to the law defied the rules. The company was supposed to open the iPhone to alternative app stores and payment systems, but it added those capabilities alongside new commissions and requirements.
**Wall Street v. Apple**
Apple’s investors are clamoring for it to jump into the world of generative artificial intelligence. The technology, which can answer questions, create images, and write code, has been heralded for its potential to create trillions of dollars in economic value. Tim Cook, Apple’s chief executive, has assured investors that something is coming later this year. The company has held talks with Google about adding its A.I. model called Gemini to iPhones. Investors have sent shares of Apple down more than 3.75 percent this year. At the same time, the Nasdaq Composite Index, which is chock-full of tech stocks, has risen nearly 11 percent.
