Tile and Apple have been duking it out over the last few years over what the former calls unfair competition. Tile is also one of the founding members of the Coalition for App Fairness that’s been litigating against Apple. Now after Apple officially debuted its new AirTag item tracker, Tile’s CEO says he would like to see Congress launch an investigation into Apple bringing AirTags to market.
This isn’t the first time Tile has given testimony to Congress over its antitrust concerns about Apple. Back in January, 2020, Tile described Apple as an unfair gatekeeper.
Notably, before Apple announced its own item tracker today, it opened up the Find My app to third parties. The first three are Belkin, Chipolo, and VanMoof – with Chipolo launching the first third-party item tracker that works with Apple’s Find My platform. That means Tile will have a much more challenging time making compelling antitrust complaints.
But just after AirTags went public, Tile CEO CJ Prober shared a statement (via TechCrunch) saying “We welcome competition, as long as it is fair competition.” He goes on to say “Unfortunately, given Apple’s well-documented history of using its platform advantage to unfairly limit competition for its products, we’re skeptical.”
Interestingly, Apple’s AirTags start at just about the same price as Tile’s Pro tracker and of course offer native integration with iOS/macOS.
Prober is set to testify to Congress tomorrow, April 21, at the Apple and Google antitrust hearing. And specifically about Apple’s new item tracker, he said Tile thinks a probe is “appropriate”:
And given our prior history with Apple, we think it is entirely appropriate for Congress to take a closer look at Apple’s business practices specific to its entry into this category. We welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues further in front of Congress tomorrow.
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Here’s the full statement from Tile’s CEO:
Our mission is to solve the everyday pain point of finding lost and misplaced things and we are flattered to see Apple, one of the most valuable companies in the world, enter and validate the category Tile pioneered.
The reason so many people turn to Tile to locate their lost or misplaced items is because of the differentiated value we offer our consumers. In addition to providing an industry leading set of features via our app that works with iOS and Android devices, our service is seamlessly integrated with all major voice assistants, including Alexa and Google. And with form factors for every use case and many different styles at affordable prices, there is a Tile for everyone.
Tile has also successfully partnered with top brands like HP, Intel, Skullcandy and fitbit to enable our finding technology in mass market consumer categories like laptops, earbuds and wearables. With over 30 partners, we look forward to extending the benefits of Tile to millions of customers and enabling an experience that helps you keep track of all your important belongings.
We welcome competition, as long as it is fair competition. Unfortunately, given Apple’s well-documented history of using its platform advantage to unfairly limit competition for its products, we’re skeptical. And given our prior history with Apple, we think it is entirely appropriate for Congress to take a closer look at Apple’s business practices specific to its entry into this category. We welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues further in front of Congress tomorrow.
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