alleged anti-competitive practices by Apple

The French anti-trust body, the Autorite de la Concurrence, has carried out searches of Apple’s offices, wholesalers and retailers in a search for evidence into alleged anti-competitive practices by the company, reports the Les Echos newspaper (via the WSJ).

The watchdog is looking into the way Apple provides independent wholesalers and retailers with its smartphones, tablet, laptop and desktop computers, the newspaper says.

Independent retailers claim Apple violates existing agreements by favoring its own stores, Les Echos reports … 
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Image: Europa.eu

Apple’s lawyers are having a busy month. Hot on the heels of the US Senate hearings into alleged tax-avoidance, the Financial Times reports that a preliminary  enquiry into whether Apple has been guilty of anti-competitive practices in Europe has moved to the next stage.

We reported back in March that the European Union was considering whether Apple’s contracts with European phone carriers may contravene anti-trust regulations after informal complaints were received from several French carriers. The complaints alleged that Apple took advantage of demand for the iPhone to impose conditions on carriers that put competitor manufacturers are a disadvantage.

The EU has now asked carriers across Europe to answer a series of questions about the alleged practices in order to decide whether or not to open a formal anti-trust enquiry …

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