On another HN post someone made a really interesting comment about why the US government attacks its own strategic assets. Both Microsoft and Apple do business world
wide and funnel cash into the US and these DOJ lawsuits impact how these companies operate globally. The anticompetitive behaviour involved is usually very intricate and it takes a good understanding of these businesses to spot when they cross the line. Most governments will never understand this and won't regulate these companies, so its weird that the US government does it for them.
On the other hand, Apple has shown that it is willing to differentiate product lines over geographic boundaries, so maybe this lawsuit will make apple offer 3 lines of products, for Europe, the US and the rest of the world.