Italy’s antitrust authority has fined US tech giants Apple and Amazon with almost a fine of 230 million dollars. They have been allegedly accused of anti-competitive cooperation in the sale of Apple and Beats products.
As per a contractual agreement in 2018, signed between the companies only selected resellers were allowed to sell Apple and Beat products on Amazon. Since they violated the European Union Rules, it affected the competition on prices not allowing other resellers from Europe to sell their Apple products. The authority has imposed a fine of 68.7 million euros on Amazon and 13.45 million euros on Apple. They have also ordered the companies to end the restrictions and to give retailers genuine Apple and Beat products access to Amazon.it in a non-discriminatory manner.
Both Apple and Amazon have planned to appeal against the fines imposed. Apple in a statement said that they ensure that the customers receive only genuine products from resellers and have teams all over the globe that keep a track of quality. Also, this team works with different law enforcement, customs, and merchants to ensure that only genuine Apple products are delivered. Amazon said in a statement that the proposed fine was disproportionate and unjustified. Amazon claimed that the agreement it had inked with Apple, has indeed led to an increase in the volume of genuine Apple products for them to buy on its marketplace and highlight products that have been discounted too.
The authority noted that Amazon accounts for a minimum of seventy percent of purchases of consumer electronic kits in Italy. Out of which forty percent are by retailers who use Amazon as a brokerage platform. After the investigation by Italy, national competition authorities in Germany and Spain have initiated similar proceedings.
What is the Antitrust law in Italy?
Antitrust Law in Italy refers to the competition laws which specify how consumers are protected against corporate practices that can jeopardize the competition rules set on the local market. Antitrust regulations can refer to a wide area of practices that can be carried out by a company to increase the number of clients and to establish a larger market share.
