Apple and Amazon Fined $218 Million by Spain's Antitrust Watchdog
Apple and Amazon have been fined $218 million for allegedly colluding to block competition on Amazon’s Spanish website.
That fine was announced Tuesday by the CNMC, Spain’s antitrust watchdog, which accuses the two companies of signing contracts in 2018 that “unreasonably restricted the number of resellers of Apple products on the Amazon website in Spain.”
Meanwhile, the agency said, the two companies also “limited the advertising spaces where competing Apple products can be advertised on the Amazon website in Spain.”
As a result of the companies’ agreement, more than 90% of retailers using Amazon to sell Apple products were blocked. The regulator fined Apple $161.4 million and Amazon $56.7 million and gave the two tech giants two months to appeal the decision.
Apple and Amazon said in separate statements to PYMNTS that they plan to do just that.
“At Apple, we work hard to create the best products and user experience in the world,” a company spokesperson said. “To protect users from security, safety, and quality risks created by counterfeit products, we have rules in place that have effectively reduced counterfeiting as well as dedicated teams around the world who work tirelessly with merchants, law enforcement and customs officials to ensure our very high standards are met.”
“Our business model relies on sellers’ success, most of which are small businesses,” Amazon said in its statement. “Moreover, as a result of the agreement with Apple, Spanish customers benefit from a selection that has more than doubled in the last four years, and offers excellent deals and fast shipping.”
The two companies argue their agreement helped prevent counterfeiting and yielded a greater selection of Apple products for customers in Spain.
The agency’s decision comes as Amazon, Apple and their Big Tech counterparts face ongoing pressure from regulators on both sides of the Atlantic.
For example, Microsoft is reportedly facing an antitrust probe in Europe because of its Teams product, with the European Commission investigating claims that the company is unfairly packaging the video conferencing app with its Office software.
Sources told the Financial Times earlier this week that the Commission could formally charge Microsoft in the next few months.
A Microsoft spokesperson told PYMNTS the company continues “to engage cooperatively with the commission in its investigation and are open to pragmatic solutions that address its concerns and serve customers well.”
The EC declined to comment when reached by PYMNTS.
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