Spain Fines Apple and Amazon €194 Million for Antitrust Violations
Spain’s competition regulator announced on Tuesday that it has imposed fines amounting to 194 million euros ($218 million) on Amazon and Apple, accusing them of engaging in collusion during product sales.
The two companies had agreed to limit the sale of Apple products on Amazon’s Spanish website by third-party retailers, “restricting competition,” the regulator said in a statement.
The contractual terms of the 2018 agreement between the companies meant that only selected resellers chosen by Apple could sell Apple products on Amazon.es, it added.
“More than 90 percent of retailers using Amazon’s website in Spain to sell Apple products were banned from Spain’s main online market,” the statement said.
The move “drastically” reduced competition between resellers of Apple products on Amazon’s Spanish platform, it added.
The result was an increase in the prices of Apple devices sold on Amazon.
The authority fined Amazon 50.5 million euros and Apple 143.6 million euros.
The companies said they entered into an agreement to ensure that all Apple products sold on Amazon are genuine after several counterfeit products were discovered.
Apple announced that it would appeal the authority’s decision.
“To protect users from the safety and quality risks posed by counterfeit products, we have rules in place that have effectively reduced counterfeiting,” a company spokesperson told AFP.
Technology giants such as Apple and Amazon have been convicted several times in Europe in recent years for violating competition laws.
Italy fined Amazon €1.1 billion in December 2021 for abusing its dominant market position, while France fined Apple €371.6 million in October 2022.
