Italy’s antitrust authority is investigating Apple and Amazon after a local retailer complained they’d been banned from re-selling products on the online marketplace.
The Italian offices of both companies were inspected Wednesday, July 22, by authorities, according to a report from Bloomberg. Apple and Amazon are suspected of unfairly curbing the sale of the iPhone maker’s Beats products by anyone other than members of its official reseller program.
This could “lower the incentives for efficient competition on the prices of Apple and Beats products” with “negative effects for consumers and businesses,” the authority said in a statement.
A representative for Apple didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokesman for Amazon said the company is “fully collaborating with the authority.”The Italian probe comes as both companies are facing in-depth scrutiny from the European Union’s antitrust authority in areas central to their business. The EU in June opened multiple antitrust probes into Apple’s conduct, including rules requiring that app developers use its App Store payment service.
Meanwhile, Amazon is said to face a formal antitrust complaint in the coming weeks from EU regulators amid concerns the US retail giant may be shortchanging smaller merchants who sell on its marketplace.
In its statement, the Italian authority said it was told many retailers had been removed from Amazon’s local marketplace as a result of re-selling Apple products without being an ordained vendor. It said the retailers believed they were operating legitimately. It didn’t say how many businesses were understood to be affected.
Featured News
FTC Urged to Enforce Rarely Used Antitrust Law Against Retail Giants
Mar 28, 2024 by
CPI
UK’s Fingleton Bolsters Team with New Additions
Mar 28, 2024 by
CPI
Britain’s Competition Regulator Clears Aviva’s Acquisition of AIG Life UK
Mar 28, 2024 by
CPI
White House Implements New AI Safeguards to Protect Rights and Safety
Mar 28, 2024 by
CPI
Denver Court Sets August Date for Kroger-Albertsons Merger Showdown
Mar 28, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Real Estate & Antitrust
Mar 27, 2024 by
CPI
Systematic National Evidence of Steering by Real Estate Agents
Mar 27, 2024 by
CPI
Compliance Now! Actionable Antitrust Advice for the Residential Real Estate Industry
Mar 27, 2024 by
CPI
Real Estate Commissions: Some Insights from the Economics of Multi-Sided Platforms
Mar 27, 2024 by
CPI
New Ideas for Promoting Real Estate Brokerage Price Competition
Mar 27, 2024 by
CPI