Amazon and Apple Fined $218 Million by Spain Antitrust Watchdog
Spain’s antitrust regulator, known as CNMC, has levied substantial fines on tech giants Amazon and Apple, totalling €194.1 million ($218 million), for colluding to limit competition on the Amazon platform in Spain.
The fines were imposed due to anti-competitive clauses present in two contracts signed by the companies on October 31, 2018, which granted Amazon the status of an authorized Apple dealer. These clauses had a significant impact on the online market for electronic devices in Spain, as stated by CNMC in a press release on Tuesday.
Apple was fined €143.6 million ($161.4 million), while Amazon received a €50.5 million ($56.7 million) penalty. Both companies have the option to appeal the decision within the next two months.
CNMC accused the two tech giants of unjustifiably restricting the number of sellers of Apple products on the Amazon website in Spain, leading to over 90% of retailers using Amazon’s marketplace to sell Apple devices being blocked. Additionally, Amazon limited the advertising space Apple’s competitors could use on its platform when users searched for Apple products.
As a result of the deal between Apple and Amazon, the prices of Apple devices sold online in Spain increased. CNMC found this to be a negative impact on the market.
In response to the fines, spokespeople from Apple and Amazon stated that they intend to appeal the decisions. The Amazon spokesperson emphasized that the company’s business model is centered around the success of sellers on its platform and rejected CNMC’s suggestion of benefits from excluding sellers.
Apple defended the agreement with Amazon, stating that it was designed to curb the sale of counterfeit Apple products online. The company had previously faced challenges in stopping the sale of counterfeit devices, leading to a significant expenditure on ‘take-down’ notices.
A similar case involving Amazon and Apple in Italy, reported by Reuters in October, initially resulted in potential fines of €200 million ($224.8 million) before being ultimately dropped.
