Brad Stone reports in the New York Times that:
Though the Justice Department’s inquiry is preliminary, it represents additional evidence that Apple, once the perennial underdog in high tech, is now viewed by government regulators as a dominant company with considerable market power.
This is consistent with my earlier observation about how Apple seems on its way to overtaking Microsoft as the biggest IT company in terms of market capitalisation. In April, Apple had already dethroned Microsoft as the most heavily weighted technology stock in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
The US Justice Department has spoken with major music labels and Internet music companies to scrutinise Apple’s tactics in the online digital music market.
The antitrust inquiry is still in the early stages. Investigators seemed to be examining recent allegations that Apple used its dominant market position to get music labels to deny exclusive access to Amazon.com for music about to be released, according to sources who had been briefed on the inquiries and who spoke on condition of anonymity.
