By Edith Hancock


U.K. consumer-protection group Which? said it filed a 3 billion-pound ($3.82 billion) lawsuit against Apple, claiming the iPhone maker breached competition rules by tying consumers to its iCloud storage service.

Which? said Apple abuses its dominance by nudging users into registering on iCloud to store data such as photos and messages without letting them back up their data with a competing provider, effectively favoring its own cloud software over rivals'.

The group also claimed that Apple overcharged users for iCloud subscriptions. Users get up to 5 gigabytes of free storage, but Apple charges a subscription for added capacity.

The group filed its suit to the U.K.'s Competition Appeal Tribunal seeking compensation for customers who have used iCloud since October 2015.

"We believe Apple customers are owed nearly 3 billion pounds as a result of the tech giant forcing its iCloud services on customers and cutting off competition from rival services," Which? Chief Executive Anabel Hoult said in a statement.

Apple said its users aren't required to use iCloud and that it is working to make data transfer between services possible.

"We reject any suggestion that our iCloud practices are anticompetitive and will vigorously defend against any legal claim otherwise," the company said in a statement.

While iPhones make up the lion's share of Apple's revenue, some of its highest gross profit margins come from its services business.


Write to Edith Hancock at edith.hancock@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

11-13-24 1914ET