The US Department of Justice is intensifying its investigation into Apple

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Justice Department has intensified its long-running antitrust investigation into Apple Inc in recent months, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Reuters previously reported that the Justice Department launched an antitrust investigation against Apple in 2019 to check whether tech giants are using their size for anti-competitive activities.

According to a Wall Street Journal report, the department has now appointed more investigators and new requests for documents and consultations have been issued to all companies involved.

The report adds that the investigation will also examine whether Apple’s mobile operating system, iOS, is anti-competitive by favoring its own products over those of third-party developers.

The Justice Department declined to comment, and Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last month, the Justice Department sued Alphabet Inc’s Google, accusing it of abusing its dominant position in digital advertising and threatening to shut down a key business at the heart of one of Silicon Valley’s most successful internet companies.

In 2020, the Department of Justice sued Google, accusing the company of violating antitrust law in the way it gains or maintains a dominant position in the online search market. The case is scheduled to be heard in September.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is investigating Amazon.com for possible antitrust violations. The commission began investigating Amazon during the Trump administration.

The retail giant has been criticized for allegedly favoring its own products and discriminating against third-party sellers on its platform.

(Reporting by Tiyashi Datta in Bengaluru, Diane Bartz and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Josie Kao)