For suspected anti-competitive collaboration in the sale of Apple and Beats items, Italy’s antitrust regulator penalised Amazon.com (AMZN.O) and Apple Inc (AAPL.O) a total of more than 200 million euros ($225 million).
Only a few resellers were authorised to sell Apple and Beats items on Amazon due to contractual constraints in a 2018 agreement between the firms.
It was in breach of European Union laws, according to the watchdog, and had an impact on pricing competitiveness.
The fines will be appealed by both Apple and Amazon.
Amazon was fined 68.7 million euros and Apple was fined 134.5 million euros by the commission, which ordered the businesses to remove limitations on shops selling authentic Apple and Beats items through Amazon. It’s done in a non-discriminatory way.
“We work closely with our reseller partners to guarantee our consumers purchase authentic items, and we have dedicated teams of specialists throughout the world who engage with law enforcement, customs, and merchants to ensure only genuine Apple products are sold,” Apple stated, denying any wrongdoing.
Amazon stated in a second statement that it strongly disagrees with the Italian authority’s decision and that the proposed fine is “disproportionate and unwarranted.”
“We reject the notion that Amazon profits from our store’s exclusion of merchants because our business model is based on their success. As a consequence of the arrangement, Italian customers will be able to find the latest Apple and Beats goods on our website, with a catalogue that has more than quadrupled, better pricing, and faster shipping “According to Amazon.