Apple fined record $1.2bn in France over anti-competitive behaviour

Apple was fined a record $1.2bn in France on Monday along with two of its wholesale partners over antitrust violations.

The fine is the biggest-ever levelled against a business over anti-competitive practices and “sterilizing the market” for Apple products, specifically as they are sold across a range of Apple Stores, large “big box” retailers and smaller, independent resellers.

It is also the heaviest penalty levied against an economic player, in this case Apple, whose extraordinary dimension has been duly taken into account.

Apple was fined alongside Ingram Micro and Tech Data by the French competition authority (Autorité de la Concurrence) for operating a cartel for virtually all Apple products including computers and tablets.

All three parties violated three specific areas, agreeing with wholesalers to not compete with each other and sterilizing the whole market for Apple products; forcing premium distributors to keep prices at the same levels as those of distributors and abusing “economic dependence” of these premium distributors and subjecting them to unfair and unfavorable commercial conditions.

Tech Data was fined €76.1m and Ingram Micro €62.9m.

Apple said that it would appeal the ruling.

“Apple has been operating in France for over 40 years and we are proud of our many contributions to job creation and economic development. Our investment and innovation supports over 240,000 jobs across the country. The French Competition Authority’s decision is disheartening,” a spokesperson said.

“It relates to practices from over a decade ago and discards thirty years of legal precedent that all companies in France rely on with an order that will cause chaos for companies across all industries. We strongly disagree with them and plan to appeal.

“We are extremely proud to serve our French customers and believe they should be allowed to choose the product they want, either through Apple Retail or our large network of resellers across the country. We will continue to work hard to deliver the best products and services in the market.”