The water washed away the Dragon King Temple!
Recently, the U.S. Department of Justice filed an 88-page antitrust lawsuit against tech giant Apple, targeting its popular CarPlay system. This move has attracted widespread attention and heated discussions in the industry, and for a while, the controversy over whether CarPlay constitutes a monopoly has become the focus of public opinion.
According to the lawsuit, Apple has adopted a throttling strategy through the CarPlay app, which aims to block interconnection with other phones, thereby locking users further into the iPhone's related features. This strategy is regarded by the U.S. Department of Justice as a typical monopolistic behavior, which restricts the consumer's right to choose and inhibits fair competition in the market.
Not only that, but the lawsuit also raises questions about Apple's upcoming next-generation CarPlay system. It is reported that the new generation of CarPlay will be deeply integrated with the car hardware, which can not only provide content for multiple screens in the vehicle, but also allow users to perform various operations such as controlling the radio directly through CarPlay, and can use functions such as vehicle data. The U.S. Department of Justice is concerned that this deeper interconnection will further consolidate Apple's monopoly in the field of in-vehicle systems and pose a greater threat to market competition.
In addition, the lawsuit points out that the popularity of CarPlay has reduced the incentive for automakers to innovate. Because automakers need to share data with Apple and are limited by Apple's systems, it is difficult for them to differentiate themselves on in-vehicle systems, which affects the innovation vitality of the entire industry.
However, there are also people who disagree with the US Department of Justice's allegations. Some industry analysts believe that CarPlay does not mean a monopoly. They point out that automakers still need to build a basic software interface so that owners can adjust the air conditioner, change the radio station, or operate the local navigation map. In addition, they cannot assume that every car owner owns a smartphone, let alone a particular brand. As a result, cars need to function without smartphones, which provides room for other in-vehicle systems.
In fact, back in June 2022, Apple launched the latest generation of CarPlay systems and established partnerships with several well-known automakers. However, not all automakers are willing to rely on CarPlay. At the end of 2023, General Motors said that it would abandon Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in favor of its own software to avoid the driving distractions that these two technologies may bring. This move undoubtedly poses a challenge to Apple's position in the in-vehicle systems market.