# Apple Inc.
> US technology company behind the iPhone and App Store, facing simultaneous antitrust proceedings in the United States and European Union over alleged smartphone and app marketplace monopolies.

**Meta:** type: reference · date: 2026-07-03 · heads:  · 3 takes · 1 lenses · 2 regions

## What it is

Apple Inc. is a US technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California. It designs and sells consumer electronics including the iPhone, Mac computers, iPad tablets, Apple Watch, and AirPods, and operates a services business spanning the App Store, Apple Music, iCloud, Apple TV+, and Apple Pay. In fiscal 2025 (year ended September 27, 2025), Apple posted total net sales of US$416.2 billion: US$307.0 billion in products and US$109.2 billion in services. Services has grown from roughly 15% to 26% of revenue over five years and is the company's highest-margin segment.

## History

Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne founded Apple Computer on April 1, 1976, in Los Altos, California. The Apple II (1977) established it as a consumer PC maker. Jobs was ousted by the board in 1985 and returned in 1997 through Apple's acquisition of NeXT for US$429 million. The iMac (1998), iPod (2001), iPhone (2007), App Store (2008), and iPad (2010) each redefined product categories. Tim Cook succeeded Jobs as chief executive in August 2011, weeks before Jobs died on October 5, 2011. Apple was the first US company to cross US$1 trillion in market capitalisation (August 2018) and US$3 trillion (January 2022). The M1 chip (November 2020) completed Apple's shift from Intel to in-house silicon across Mac, iPad, iPhone, and Apple Watch.

## Current state

As of July 2026, Apple faces concurrent antitrust proceedings in the United States and the European Union, representing the heaviest regulatory pressure in the company's history.

In the United States, the Department of Justice and 16 state attorneys general filed a civil complaint in March 2024 under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, alleging Apple sustains an unlawful smartphone monopoly. The core allegations cover four categories of conduct: degrading cross-platform iMessage compatibility to disadvantage Android users, blocking super-apps that would ease platform switching, limiting third-party smartwatch functionality to favour Apple Watch, and restricting cloud gaming and alternative payment services on iOS. US District Court denied Apple's motion to dismiss on June 30, 2025, allowing all core claims to proceed to discovery. No trial date has been set as of July 2026.

In the European Union, the European Commission found Apple in breach of the Digital Markets Act's anti-steering provisions in April 2025 and imposed a EUR 500 million fine, the first DMA non-compliance penalty issued against any gatekeeper. Apple contested the decision at the EU General Court in Luxembourg (Case T-438/25), filing on July 7, 2025, on five legal grounds. Apple separately challenges the Commission's designation of the App Store as a gatekeeper service under the DMA; that proceeding also continues into 2026. Full DMA compliance obligations remain in force regardless of the court challenges.

On the supply side, Apple raised MacBook and iPad prices in June 2026, citing record memory and storage component costs driven by AI infrastructure demand (see [애플, AI 메모리 수요로 부품 비용 사상 최고 수준 도달하며 맥북·아이패드 가격 인상](/ko/n/apple-price-hike-memory-jun25)). A preliminary agreement with Intel to manufacture chips on its 14A node would reduce Apple's near-total manufacturing dependence on TSMC (see [인텔의 반전은 14A에 달려 있다. 아직 계약서에 없는 애플 로고](/ko/n/intel-14a-apple-foundry-2026)).

## Relationships

Apple's silicon supply chain runs almost entirely through Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), which fabricates all Apple Silicon processors. Luxshare Precision and Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision) are the primary iPhone and AirPods assemblers; Luxshare launched a US$3.1 billion Hong Kong IPO in June 2026, the largest in the city that year (see [China's Luxshare launches Hong Kong IPO seeking up to US$3.1bn, 2026's largest, with Singapore and Abu Dhabi anchoring](/ko/n/luxshare-hong-kong-ipo-2026)). Tim Cook is chief executive; Art Levinson serves as independent board chair. The DOJ case aligns the US federal government and 16 states against Apple; EU DMA proceedings are administered by DG Competition in Brussels.

## What to watch

- DOJ v. Apple trial scheduling: no date set as of July 2026; the pace of discovery will determine whether the case reaches trial in 2027 or 2028.
- EU General Court rulings on Apple's DMA gatekeeper challenge and its T-438/25 anti-steering appeal, which could narrow or vacate the EUR 500 million fine.
- Whether the Intel 14A foundry arrangement is formalised, diversifying Apple's chip manufacturing away from TSMC.
- iPhone pricing decisions for the autumn 2026 product cycle, given persistent memory cost pressure across the semiconductor supply chain.
- Luxshare's Hong Kong trading performance from July 9, 2026, as a proxy for investor confidence in Apple's China-centred assembly model.

## Regional takes (batched by bias / lens)

### official record
- **Apple Inc., Form 10-K (FY2025)** (north-america, en) — Apple annual report filed with the US SEC for the fiscal year ended September 27, 2025: total net sales of US$416.2 billion (products US$307.0 billion, services US$109.2 billion), with legal-risk disclosures covering the DOJ antitrust suit and EU Digital Markets Act proceedings.
  Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0000320193/000032019325000079/aapl-20250927.htm
- **United States Department of Justice, Antitrust Division** (north-america, en) — Case file for the March 2024 civil complaint alleging Apple monopolises US smartphone markets by restricting cross-platform messaging, cloud gaming, super-apps, and third-party payment services on iOS; motion to dismiss denied June 30, 2025.
  Source: https://www.justice.gov/atr/case/us-and-plaintiff-states-v-apple-inc
- **European Commission, Press Corner** (europe, en) — April 2025 Commission decision finding Apple in breach of the Digital Markets Act anti-steering provisions, imposing a EUR 500 million fine, the first DMA non-compliance penalty against any designated gatekeeper, covering App Store rules that barred developers from directing users to cheaper off-platform purchases.
  Source: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_25_1085

## Across the graph
- Related: [[luxshare-hong-kong-ipo-2026]], [[apple-price-hike-memory-jun25]], [[intel-14a-apple-foundry-2026]]
- Entities: Corporate:apple, Tim Cook, Corporate:tsmc, US Doj, EU Commission

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Canonical: https://rbtfl.xyz/ko/n/apple-dossier