Apple Increased Its Lobbying Spending by 44% in 2022 Amidst Antitrust Lawsuits

Apple is not having an easy time of it, at least as from a legal standpoint. The tech juggernaut has been facing lawsuit after lawsuit due to alleged antitrust violations. Many of these suits were brought about as a result of Apple’s policies concerning the App Store, and the US led that charge with the EU and Russia also initiating their own separate legal proceedings.

Starting back in 2019, the US Congress began to delve deep into the world of tech to uncover supposed unfair practices. One such practice is giving your own products preferential treatment, which Apple is most certainly guilty of. The tech company charge Spotify a fee for being up on the App Store, but in spite of the fact that this is the case it is able to offer its own music streaming service Apple Music free of charge.

The Senate is set to look at a bill approved by the House of Representatives which would make such a practice illegal. That could take a huge bite out of Apple’s business practices, since the company relies on its ecosystem to generate outsized revenues with all things having been considered and taken into account.

With all of that having been said and now out of the way, it is important to note that Apple is not taking these allegations lying down. The tech company increased its lobbying spending by as much as 44% last year because of the fact that this is the sort of thing that could potentially end up helping it get on the good side of the government and the judicial system.

It will be interesting to see what happens when such an unstoppable force meets a seemingly immovable objects. Things are bound to get ugly, and Apple is clearly looking to take the offensive by hiring the best lobbying firms in the country. Whether or not they succeed is a question for another day, for now we will have to wait to find out how the Senate session where this bill will be discussed plays out and what they decide.