Apple is asking the judge in its antitrust lawsuit to dismiss the case, arguing that it does not meet the definition of a monopolist.

The DOJ filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in late March, claiming the company is “monopolizing smartphone markets.” The DOJ alleges that Apple has hurt consumers, locked customers into its products and services, and driven up prices.

According to Reuters, Apple has written US District Judge Julien X. Neals, saying that “far from being a monopolist, Apple faces fierce competition from well-established rivals, and the complaint fails to allege that Apple has the ability to charge supra-competitive prices or restrict output in the alleged smartphone markets.”

The company also says the DOJ is hanging its case on a “theory of antitrust liability that no court has recognized.”

The DOJ certainly seems to have a difficult case ahead of it. While Apple may have 60.77% of the US smartphone market share, according to Backlinko, the iPhone only has 28.58% of the worldwide market share. As a result, Apple may well have a case that it is not a monopolist and “faces fierce competition.”

Given the breadth and scope of the DOJ’s case against Apple, the company faces nothing less than an existential threat to its business model. For consumers, the option of buying a fully integrated solution is at stake, since much of the DOJ’s complaint revolves around Apple’s famed ‘walled garden’ approach to providing a curated experience for its consumers.

That’s why some critics, are slamming the US government for overreaching in its case, saying a DOJ victory will do far more harm than good to American consumers.

“The Department of Justice, like the Federal Trade Commission, is oddly committed to bringing cases that seek to diminish some of America’s most innovative companies – harming powerful drivers of our economy, job creators, and providers of products and services that people love. Today, Apple is the most recent target despite a years-long investigation which now provides little evidence of wrongdoing,” said Chandler Smith Costello, a spokeswoman for the Don’t Break What Works campaign, in a statement to WPN.

“If successful, this lawsuit would curtail the privacy and security of Apple products and make it more difficult for them to work seamlessly with each other. It’s hard to see how this enforcement action is a win for consumers,” she continued.