Milan: A total of more than 200 million euros ($225 million) fined has been imposed on U.S. tech giants Amazon.com and Apple Inc by Italy’s antitrust authority for alleged anti-competitive cooperation in the sale of Apple and Beats products.
Contractual provisions of a 2018 agreement between the companies meant only selected resellers were allowed to sell Apple and Beats products on Amazon.it, the competition watchdog said, adding that this was in violation of European Union rules.
The authority imposed a fine of 68.7 million euros on Amazon and 134.5 million euros on Apple, ordering the companies to end the restrictions to give retailers of genuine Apple and Beats products access to Amazon.it in a non-discriminatory manner.
Apple, however, denied any wrongdoing and said it plans to appeal against the fine.