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In November 2023, a report surfaced that Apple thought-about making the Apple Watch appropriate with Android telephones. The corporate has now formally confirmed it. The iPhone maker says it labored on including Android assist for 3 years earlier than dropping the undertaking due to technical limitations. The revelation got here as a part of its response to the Division of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit.
Apple tried including Android assist to its watches
The DOJ has filed an expansive antitrust lawsuit in opposition to Apple, accusing the corporate of utilizing its services to run a monopoly within the smartphone market. Unsurprisingly, the Apple Watch is a part of this dialogue. “Having copied the concept of a smartwatch from third-party builders, Apple now prevents these builders from innovating and limits the Apple Watch to the iPhone to stop a destructive influence on iPhone gross sales,” the lawsuit states.
The Justice Division cited a 2019 e mail from Apple’s Vice President of Product Advertising and marketing for Apple Watch during which they acknowledged that the watch “could assist stop iPhone clients from switching” to Android telephones. The 88-page lawsuit additional states that Apple doesn’t wish to make its watches appropriate with Android as a result of this might “take away an iPhone differentiator.”
In response, Apple mentioned that it thought-about including Android assist to the Apple Watch. The corporate investigated the state of affairs for 3 years and decided that it wasn’t doable due to technical limitations. It will definitely scrapped the concept, limiting the Apple Watch to the iPhone. Apparently, the November report from Bloomberg mentioned Apple dropped the undertaking, referred to as Challenge Fennel resulting from “enterprise issues.”
Both method, Apple did attempt bringing its watches to Android telephones sooner or later. Nonetheless, the DOJ may argue that it dropped the concept and that the Apple Watch continues to be an iPhone differentiator. It possible sees this as an anti-competitive enterprise observe as anybody with an Apple Watch will in all probability purchase an iPhone, and vice versa. If the watches supported Android, shoppers would get extra freedom when shopping for telephones.
Apple says the lawsuit threatens its ideas
The DOJ’s lawsuit targets many Apple services, together with CarPlay, digital keys, and extra. Apple says the lawsuit threatens “the ideas that set Apple merchandise aside in fiercely aggressive markets.” The corporate fears that it might hinder its “potential to create the type of know-how folks anticipate from Apple” and “set a harmful precedent.” The iPhone maker labeled the lawsuit “fallacious on the information and the legislation.”
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