Italy's antitrust authorities penalized Amazon and Apple a total of more than EUR 225 million for suspected anti-competitive collaboration in the sale of Apple and Beats items. According to the competition watchdog, contractual clauses of a 2018 deal between the businesses permitted only chosen resellers to sell Apple and Beats items on Amazon, which was in breach of European Union laws.
The authorities fined Amazon EUR 68.7 million and Apple EUR 134.5 million, ordering the businesses to remove the limitations and provide sellers of authentic Apple and Beats items non-discriminatory access to Amazon. Apple has denied any wrongdoing and stated that it intends to appeal the sentence.
"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," it stated. A...