The appeals court supported the antitrust watchdog’s charge that Apple abused retailers’ economic reliance on the company, but removed the fixed-pricing fee, one of two sources said.
The appeals court supported the antitrust watchdog’s charge that Apple abused retailers’ economic reliance on the company, but removed the fixed-pricing fee, one of two sources said.
A French court on Thursday significantly reduced the fine against him iPhone maker Apple Inc. for alleged anti-competitive behavior 372 million euros ($366.31 million), up from an earlier 1.1 billion euros, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
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The original fine was imposed in 2020 by France’s antitrust watchdog in what it described as Apple’s anti-competitive behavior toward its distribution and retail networks.
At the time, it was the largest fine imposed by an antitrust regulator, which said Apple imposed prices on retail premium resellers so that the prices were aligned with those imposed by the California firm in its stores or over the Internet.
The appeals court backed the antitrust watchdog’s charge that Apple abused retailers’ economic reliance on the company, but removed the fixed-pricing fee, one of the two sources said.
The same source said it also narrowed the time frame for the alleged ban of wholesalers’ customers.
The source said the court also decided to significantly reduce the rate applicable for computing the overall fine.
The source said the French antitrust authority had used a higher rate in 2020 given Apple’s size and financial firepower.
Apple said it would appeal against the decision. It did not mention the amount of fine issued by the court.
“While the court correctly reversed part of the decision of the French Competition Authority, we believe it should be reversed in its entirety and plans to appeal,” the US company said in a statement sent to Reuters. Is.”
“The decision pertains to practices for more than a decade that even those recognized (French authorities) are no longer in use.”
A spokesman for the appeals court declined to comment on the exact content of the decision, but confirmed that the court “partially confirmed” the antitrust watchdog’s decision.