Yet another antitrust fine Italian for Big Hi-Tech. This time they were the ones to be sanctioned Amazon and Apple, guilty according to the authority, of having signed an agreement that violates competition, preventing legitimate resellers of "genuine" Apple and Beats products from operating on the amazon.it marketplace.
The fine amounts to 200 million euro overall, of which 68,7 million will have to be paid by Amazon and 134,5 by Apple.
Going into detail, on October 31, 2018 Apple and Amazon signed an agreement containing clauses which prohibited official and unofficial resellers of Apple and Beats products from sell on amazon.it. It is a pity that the same possibility was instead allowed to Amazon and to other subjects chosen individually and "in a discriminatory way". Therefore, according to the Antitrust, these clauses violate art. 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
“The clauses of the agreement – added the Authority – also have limited cross-border sales, as there was discrimination of retailers on a geographical basis. The restrictions of the agreement were reflected in the level of discounts applied by third parties on Amazon.it, reducing their size. The restrictiveness of such conduct appears to be confirmed by the fact that Amazon.it represents the place of electronic commerce where it takes place at least 70% of purchases of electronic products of consumption in Italy. The Authority therefore imposed a fine of 68,7 million euros on the companies of the Amazon group and a fine of 134,5 million euros on the companies of the Apple group”.
The two US giants will also have to end restrictions imposed to date, allowing access to the Amazon marketplace to independent resellers of Apple and Beats products, hitherto excluded by making a discrimination.
The decision comes after a XNUMX-month investigation following a complaint from a retailer who accused the two companies of barring non-Apple-affiliated retailers from selling on Amazon.
"We respect the Competition and Market Authority but we believe we have done nothing wrong and we intend to appeal," he said. commented Apple, explaining that “To ensure the safety of our customers and the integrity of the products they purchase, it is important that customers know they are purchasing genuine products. Non-genuine products offer an inferior experience and can often be dangerous,” Apple points out.
