The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) yesterday fined Apple (143.6 million) and Amazon (50.5 million) 194.1 million euros for having agreed that only a series of distributors designated by the company de la poma could sell their products through Amazon’s website in Spain. The penalty is the second largest imposed by the regulatory body, after the 203.6 million euros with which it penalized the six major Spanish construction companies last year for arranging public tenders for 25 years. Both technologies announced that they will appeal against the decision before the National Court.
According to the CNMC, in October 2018 Amazon and Apple signed contracts updating Amazon’s terms as an authorized distributor of Apple products, which included several clauses restricting competition and affecting online retailing of apple products in Spain. In the agreements, it was established that only a series of distributors designated by Apple could sell their products on the sales giant’s website.
The CNMC considers that, as a result of the application of these clauses, “more than 90% of the resellers who used the Amazon website in Spain for the retail sale of Apple products were excluded of the main online market in Spain”. The sellers who were not authorized, according to the regulatory body, “lost an important sales channel, to the extent that the web carries the majority of online purchases of electronic products in Spain”.
Among other consequences pointed out by the CNMC, the sale of Apple products was concentrated on Amazon and the sales of those coming from sellers in other EU countries were reduced, and “an increase in relative prices” was also seen. of the products.
Apple pointed out yesterday that the main purpose of the 2018 agreements with Amazon was to fight counterfeiting and security problems that could take place in the Amazon store. A spokesperson for the Cupertino company noted: “To protect users against the safety and quality risks caused by counterfeit products, we have rules that have effectively reduced counterfeiting and specialized teams around the world who work non-stop with traders, security forces and customs officials”.
Until the 2018 agreements, Apple says it had to devote a lot of its own time and resources to combat counterfeiting and security issues. The company points to a similar decision by the Italian competition authority that was eventually overturned in 2022 by an Italian administrative court.
