Giant tech giant Apple Inc. (AAPL) and leading online retailer Amazon Inc. (AMZN) have been slapped with a $225 million (200 million euros) fine by Italy’s antitrust regulator for collusion. The two United States based companies are accused of engaging into anti-competitive alliance in the sale of Apple and Beats products.
The antitrust regulator claims that, according to contractual provisions of a 2018 agreement between the two companies, only selected sellers were allowed to sell Apple and Beats on Amazon.it.
The competition watchdogs claims this act is in direct violation of European Union rules which Italy is subject to.
The regulator fined Amazon and Apple fines of 68.7 million euros and 135 million euros respectively. Additionally, the companies were ordered to stop the restrictions and immediately give retailers of genuine of Apple and Beats products access to Amazon.it
On response to this the matter, Apple denied any wrongdoing on the matter at hand further adding that it will be appealing the fine.
“To ensure our customers purchase genuine products, we work closely with our reseller partners and have dedicated teams of experts around the world who work with law enforcement, customs and merchants to ensure only genuine Apple products are being sold,” said Apple.
