Apple and Amazon's 1.2 billion antitrust fines were overturned by an Italian court

An Italian administrative court today canceled last year's 173.3 million euros (about 1.21 billion yuan) fines against Apple and Amazon for selling Apple and Beats. Products suspected of anti-competitive cooperation.

In November 2021, Italian antitrust regulators fined Apple and Amazon 200 million euros (about 1.396 billion yuan), an investigation that began in 2020, and regulators accused the two companies of having been blocking the Resellers selling Apple and Beats devices to stifle competition and keep prices high.

The regulator said contractual terms in the agreement between Apple and Amazon in 2018 meant that only selected resellers could sell products in Amazon's Italian store, in violation of EU rules and affecting price competition.

Specifically, Amazon was fined 68.7 million euros (about 480 million yuan), while Apple was fined 134.5 million euros (about 939 million yuan) . The regulator also ordered the two companies to stop restricting retailers of genuine Apple and Beats products to Amazon Italy's online store in a "non-discriminatory manner."

Both Apple and Amazon have appealed the fines. "To ensure our customers are buying 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," Apple said. was sold." Apple denies any wrongdoing.

In a separate statement, Amazon said it strongly disagreed with the Italian authorities' decision and that the proposed fine was "disproportionate and unjustified." Earlier this year, the total fine was reduced to 173.3 million euros (about 1.21 billion yuan) due to a "major error" in the calculation of the fine. Amazon welcomed today's ruling in a statement, while Apple and Italy's antitrust regulator declined to comment.