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Spain’s CNMC rules Apple and Amazon delayed removal of anti-competitive clauses, risking further fines

MacDailyNews

Feb 25

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Spain’s competition regulator has ruled that Apple and Amazon took too long to remove anti-competitive clauses from their distribution contracts, despite being ordered to do so immediately.

The CNMC watchdog fined the companies a combined 194 million euros ($228 million) in July 2023 for clauses that unfairly limited the number of Apple resellers on Amazon’s platform in Spain. It mandated their prompt removal.

On Wednesday, the regulator found that the companies failed to comply swiftly enough, potentially opening the door to additional penalties.

Reuters:
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In an emailed statement to Reuters, Apple said it respected the CNMC but disagreed with its decision, adding it had always complied with authorities’ orders.
“We will continue to work to protect our customers from counterfeit products and offer them the assurance that they are receiving a genuine Apple product when they take it out of the box,” the company added.
Amazon also disagreed and said it would lodge an appeal.
“We also disagree with the CNMC’s assertion that Amazon benefits from excluding sellers from the store, as our business model is based precisely on the success of the companies that sell through Amazon, many of which are small and medium-sized enterprises,” said a spokesperson for the Seattle-based tech giant.

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MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote in 2019, “Eliminating counterfeit Apple products on Amazon isn’t illegal.”

Apple has the right to vet Authorized Apple Resellers in order to maintain high levels of service.

Apple obviously wants as much uniformity in, and control of, the sales experience of their products as possible. — MacDailyNews, May 21, 2019

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