Apple's antitrust fight with the U.S. Department of Justice has moved into a messy phase of the discovery process, with several outside companies pushing back on subpoenas from both sides, according to a report from 9to5Mac that is based on letters filed with the court this week.
The government and 15 states, plus the District of Columbia, sued Apple in March 2024. They accuse the company of restricting competition, limiting interoperability with rival products and making it harder for consumers to switch to other devices. Apple denies the allegations. Discovery, the pretrial exchange of evidence, has produced repeated clashes, even as there have been reports of settlement talks behind the scenes.
Apple has subpoenaed a long list of third parties, including Epic Games, Samsung Electronics America, Meta, Oura, Garmin, Playco, Ultrahuman, PayPal, Match Group and the Connectivity Standards Alliance. The DOJ and the plaintiff states have sent their own subpoenas to companies such as Roblox, Epic Games, Snap and the Connectivity Standards Alliance.
According to 9to5Mac's summary of the filings, Epic argues that Apple's request for documents from three earlier lawsuits, plus searches of files belonging to three senior executives including its CEO, would be disproportionately burdensome. Epic has offered to hand over some material, such as Fortnite user and revenue data and records relating to Apple's Core Technology Fee.
Samsung has agreed to search the documents of two executives, a search it says turned up nearly 900,000 matching documents. Apple wants the search widened to six more executives, including current and former heads of Samsung Electronics America. The two also disagree over whether Samsung's U.S. unit must produce documents held by its South Korean parent.
Oura is contesting whether Apple should reimburse it for reviewing more than 32,000 additional documents, and whether it can redact trade secrets. Garmin has raised similar objections to Apple's requests for confidential financial and strategic information. Roblox, subpoenaed by the government, is disputing requests about its relationship with Apple and how App Store policies are applied. Playco says producing documents about its efforts to influence App Store policy would violate its First Amendment rights.
Several of the companies have asked for until November 11 to keep negotiating before the disputes are formally declared at an impasse, which could avoid further court intervention.
Separately, Apple and the DOJ are fighting over Apple's effort to obtain documents from 14 federal agencies. A special master has twice sided with Apple, but 9to5Mac says the order remains on hold while the court considers the government's appeal.
The case is still in its evidence-gathering stage, and none of these disputes has been decided.
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