The controversial Apple–Amazon deal struck back in 2018 has been found to be illegal by Spanish antitrust regulators, who have fined the company a total of $218M.
The investigation into alleged price-fixing took two years to complete, and follows similar ones in Germany and Italy – with concerns also expressed in the US …
The controversial Apple-Amazon deal
The case dates back to 2018, when the two companies reached a multi-country agreement to restrict the sale of Apple and Beats products to Apple authorized resellers. The deal – which applied in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, and India – resulted in the creation of an official Apple Store on Amazon.
The companies said at the time that this was to ensure that all Apple products offered for sale on Amazon were genuine, after a number of counterfeit products were discovered. However, small resellers complained that this completely destroyed their businesses, as the requirements for becoming an authorized reseller include hitting sales volumes of millions of dollars.
Antitrust regulators expressed concerns that limiting competition would keep prices of Apple products artificially high, harming consumers. Three countries – Germany, Italy, and Spain – opened antitrust investigations.
In 2021, Italian regulators concluded that both companies were guilty of price-fixing, with Apple fined €134.5M, and Amazon €68.7M. However, both companies appealed, and won their case, with the ruling overturned in court.
Spanish antitrust fine
Spain opened its own investigation a little over two years ago, and Reuters reports that both companies have now been found guilty of colluding to limit competition.
Spain’s antitrust watchdog on Tuesday said it had imposed fines worth a total €194.1M ($218M) on Amazon and Apple for colluding to limit the online sale of devices from Apple and competitors in Spain […]
“The two companies restricted without justification the number of sellers of Apple products on the Amazon website in Spain,” it said.
More than 90% of Apple resellers on Amazon had their stores removed following the agreement, dramatically reducing competition. The result was an increase in the prices of Apple devices sold on Amazon.
Neither company had responded to a request for comment at the time of writing, but it seems near-certain that both will appeal, as they did in Italy.
Photo: James Yarema/Unsplash
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