Spain’s antitrust watchdog on Tuesday said it had imposed fines worth a total 194.1 million euros ($218.03 million) on Amazon (AMZN.O) and Apple (AAPL.O) for colluding to limit the online sale of devices from Apple and competitors in Spain.
The two contracts the companies signed on Oct. 31, 2018 granting Amazon the status of authorized Apple dealer included anti-competitive clauses that affected the online market for electronic devices in Spain, CNMC, as the watchdog is known, said in a statement.
Apple was fined 143.6 million euros and Amazon 50.5 million euros. The two companies have two months to appeal the decision.
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“The two companies restricted without justification the number of sellers of Apple products on the Amazon website in Spain,” CNMC said.
More than 90% of the existing retailers who were using Amazon’s market place to sell Apple devices were blocked as a result, it added.
Amazon also reduced the capacity of retailers in the European Union based outside Spain to access Spanish customers, and restricted the advertising Apple’s competitors were allowed to place on its website when users searched for Apple products, the regulator said.
Following the deal between the two tech giants, the prices of Apple devices sold online rose in Spain, it added.
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Source: Spain antitrust watchdog fines Amazon, Apple $218 million | Reuters
Yay the power of a monopoly!
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