A total of more than 200 million euros ($225 million) has been levied against Amazon.com and Apple Inc. by Italy’s antitrust regulator for suspected anti-competitive collaboration in the selling of Apple and Beats items.
According to the terms of a 2018 agreement between the businesses, only a limited number of authorised resellers were permitted to sell Apple and Beats items on Amazon.
According to the watchdog, this was a breach of European Union laws and had an impact on price competitiveness, which was a violation of EU standards.
Both Apple and Amazon have said that they intend to file an appeal against the penalties.
Amazon was fined 68.7 million euros and Apple was fined 134.5 million euros by the regulator, which ordered the businesses to remove limitations on shops selling authentic Apple and Beats items from selling on Amazon.
Non-discriminatory treatment is provided.
According to Apple, “To ensure that our customers purchase genuine products, we work closely with our reseller partners and have dedicated teams of experts across the globe who engage with law enforcement, custom officials, and merchants to verify that only genuine Apple products are being sold.”
Earlier, Amazon said that it strongly disagreed with the decision made by the Italian authorities and that the proposed punishment was “disproportionate and unwarranted,” according to a separate statement.
Since our business model is dependent on the success of our sellers, we reject the notion that Amazon gains by banning them from our shop,” the company said. In accordance with the arrangement, Italian shoppers will be able to discover the newest Apple and Beats items on Amazon’s website. “Our inventory has more than quadrupled, and we are offering better pricing and quicker delivery,” the company said.
