Apple seeks Samsung docs abroad
Apple has asked a U.S. court to use the Hague Convention to obtain internal Samsung documents in a DOJ antitrust matter after Samsung America declined to produce foreign-held records, showing how major competition cases are pulling in cross‑border evidence. The move underlines that multinational discovery can extend litigation costs and complexity far beyond domestic operations. (appleinsider.com)
Apple is trying to get Samsung’s internal records from South Korea for a United States antitrust case that is supposed to be about Apple’s power over the iPhone. The surprise is that one of Apple’s defenses now depends on papers held by its biggest Android rival, not by Apple itself. (appleinsider.com) The case started on March 21, 2024, when the United States Department of Justice and 16 states sued Apple in federal court in New Jersey. The government says Apple used the iPhone to maintain monopoly power by restricting apps and features that could make it easier for customers to switch away. (justice.gov, naag.org) The complaint is not about one setting or one app store rule. It covers five specific buckets: super apps, cloud game streaming, cross-platform messaging, third-party smartwatches, and third-party digital wallets. (naag.org) Apple’s answer is that the smartphone market is more competitive than the government says, and Samsung is central to that argument because Samsung is the biggest premium Android brand in the United States. If Apple can show that people switch between iPhone and Galaxy phones more often than regulators claim, that helps Apple argue the market is not locked shut. (androidauthority.com, gadgets360.com) The problem is that Samsung Electronics America told Apple it did not control the records Apple wanted because those records were held by the Korean parent company. That pushed Apple away from an ordinary United States subpoena and toward a slower cross-border route. (9to5mac.com, appleinsider.com) That route is the Hague Evidence Convention, a treaty that lets one country’s court send a formal evidence request to another country’s authorities. Think of it less like serving a subpoena by courier and more like asking another court system to open its own door for you. (hcch.net, justice.gov) South Korea and the United States are both parties to that treaty, so Apple can ask the New Jersey court to issue a formal letter of request for Samsung Electronics in Korea. The Republic of Korea’s own judicial-assistance guidance says Hague evidence requests are the channel for compelled evidence there. (hcch.net, travel.state.gov) Reports on Apple’s April 7 filing say the company wants market research, financial data, and internal analyses tied to smartphones, smartwatches, and app store operations. Those are the kinds of documents that can show how a company measures customer switching, pricing pressure, and competitive threats inside its own boardroom. (gadgets360.com, macrumors.com) Even if the United States judge signs off, Apple still does not get the records instantly. South Korean authorities would handle the request under Korean procedure, and Samsung would still have room to resist based on local law and the scope of the demand. (lexmundi.com, macobserver.com) That is why this small filing says something bigger about modern antitrust cases. A lawsuit filed in New Jersey in 2024 can end up reaching a Korean parent company in 2026 because the evidence about competition inside global tech markets is scattered across subsidiaries, borders, and legal systems. (justice.gov, appleinsider.com) And it means this case is still nowhere near the finish line. As of April 2026, the fight is still deep in discovery, which is the stage where both sides collect records before any trial on the merits can really begin. (courtlistener.com, appleinsider.com)
