Apple has been hit by a flurry of new consumer lawsuits accusing the iPhone maker of monopolizing the smartphone market, bolstering a sweeping antitrust lawsuit filed last week by the Justice Department and 15 states.
At least three proposed class-action lawsuits have been filed since Friday in federal courts in California and New Jersey by iPhone owners who claim Apple inflated the costs of its products through anti-competitive behavior.
The lawsuits, which seek to represent millions of consumers, echo Justice Department claims that Apple violated US antitrust law by suppressing technology for messaging apps, digital wallets and other items that would increase competition in the smartphone market.
Apple has denied the government’s allegations. The Cupertino, Calif.-based company did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the consumer lawsuits.
Attorney Steve Berman, whose law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro brought one of the new cases, noted that his firm had previously sued Apple for allegedly preventing competition for its Apple Pay mobile wallet.
“We are pleased that the DOJ (Department of Justice) agrees with our approach,” Berman said.
Attorneys behind the other new cases did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Apple is already fighting private lawsuits challenging its business practices as anti-competitive. A judge ruled in February that Apple must face a class-action lawsuit on behalf of millions of consumers claiming it monopolized the iPhone app market. Apple denies the claims.
Hagens Berman previously secured $550 million in settlements from Apple in separate cases related to its e-book and app store pricing policies.
A 2022 study by a University at Buffalo law professor found that private antitrust class actions can sometimes go further than state cases, expanding “the scope of wrongdoing, the amount of recovery or the number of defendants involved.”