An appeals court in France slashed Apple's antitrust fine from 1.1 billion to 372 million, calling the original penalty "disproportionate" and saying that the new amount was enough to discourage the company from bad behavior. Apple was accused of manipulating the retail market for its products and was fined by the French competition authority.
Apple agreed to not compete with two of its wholesalers and to restrict retailers from lowering prices on its products, according to the authority. The company was accused of limiting the number of iPad it gave to retailers compared to the supply it gave to its own stores.
The autorité wants the fine to be "dissuasive".
The company believes it shouldn't have to pay anything because the decision relates to practices from a long time ago. According to Virginie Guin, a spokeswoman for the Autorité, the regulator is considering appealing as it wants to make sure that the penalties are not too heavy.
France isn't the only place where Apple faces antitrust action; the EU is pursuing the company for its App Store policies. There are several antitrust cases involving Apple working their way through the courts in the US and there are reports that the Department of Justice is considering bringing a case against the tech giant as well.
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