Spain's antitrust watchdog, the CNMC, has fined Amazon and Apple

 

Spain's antitrust watchdog, the CNMC, has fined Amazon and Apple a combined €194.1M ($218M) for colluding to restrict Apple resellers in Spain.  The fines consist of approximately $161M for Apple and just under $57M for Amazon. The penalties are related to anti-competitive clauses in contracts signed between the companies in 2018. In its findings, the CNMC said the contract clauses unreasonably restricted the number of Apple resellers on Amazon's marketplace in Spain. Amazon also limited the advertising opportunities for Apple's competitors on its site when customers searched for Apple products. According to the CNMC, over 90% of retailers using Amazon's marketplace to sell Apple products were affected. After the agreement between Apple and Amazon, the prices of Apple devices sold online rose in Spain. Both Apple and Amazon plan to appeal the decision, arguing that their arrangement benefits Amazon's business model and consumers and combats counterfeit products.