Italy's antitrust authority has hit Amazon and Apple with more than 200 million dollars in fines for selling Apple products on their Italian marketplace.
The authority says that the level of discounts available to consumers buying Apple and Beats products on the Amazon Italy marketplace has decreased because of the alleged antitrust activity.
The tech giants have been ordered to end the restrictions.
The AGCM said it found a restrictive agreement between the pair to block some legitimate resellers of Beats products on Amazon.it.
The fine is broken down into 134.5M for Amazon and 68.7M for Apple.
The agreement was signed in October of last year.
The AGCM found that the agreement contained a number of contractual clauses which prohibited official and unofficial resellers of Apple and Beats products from using Amazon.it.
The investigation established the intention to introduce a quantitative restriction on the number of retailers, allowing only Amazon and certain subjects, identified in adiscriminatory way, to operate on Amazon.it.
The terms of the agreement made it difficult for retailers to sell in other countries, as they were not allowed to sell in other countries.
The authority notes that at least 70% of consumer electronic kit purchases in the country are made through the local marketplace of Amazon.
It seems essential that the application of competition rules ensure a level playing field for all retailers who use marketplaces as an increasingly important place for carrying out their commercial activity, especially in today's context, avoiding the implementation of discriminatory behaviors that restrict competition.
The decision of the Authority recognizes that the need for distribution systems is compatible with the jurisprudence of the EU Court of Justice and that they should be based on qualitative criteria.
Competition authorities in Germany and Spain subsequently began proceedings after the Italian authority's investigation into the Amazon-Apple agreement.
The Comisin National de los Mercados y la Competencia in Spain said it would open an investigation against Amazon and Apple in the summer.
After Amazon amended its general terms of business for sellers, Germany's Bundeskartellamt closed its abuse proceeding against the company.
The Federal Cartel Office is looking into the market power of both tech giants after a major update to German competition law regarding digital platforms.
Amazon will be tested in Germany for antitrust risks.
The two tech giants were contacted.
At the time of writing Apple had not responded, but Amazon confirmed it will be appealing.
We intend to appeal the decision of the Italian Competition Authority. The proposed fine is excessive.
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The business model of our store relies on Amazon's success, so we reject the suggestion that they benefit by not having sellers in our store. Italian customers can find the latest Apple and Beats products on our store, thanks to a catalogue that more than doubled, with better deals and faster shipping.
Amazon claimed that the agreement it had with Apple was good for consumers and that it led to an increase in the volume of Apple products available for them to buy on its marketplace.
Amazon denied any market dominance, saying that its marketplace represents less than 1% of the global retail market and that there are larger retailers in every country in which it operates, including Italy.
Around 18,000 Italian small and medium-sized enterprises sell on Amazon, and third-party sellers account for around 60% of sales on its marketplace.
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