Spain’s National Competition Board (CNMC) fined US companies Apple and Amazon a total of 194 million 150 thousand euros for restricting competition in the online market.
It was announced that the Spanish Competition Board fined Apple 143 million 640 thousand euros and Amazon 50 million 510 thousand euros for “imposing certain restrictions on competition in the online market”.
In the statement, it was stated that Apple and Amazon signed a protocol on October 31, 2018, specifying the conditions for Amazon to become an authorized seller of Apple, and it was noted that this includes certain provisions that restrict competition in connection with the (online) retail sale of electronic products in Spain.
More than 90 percent of the sellers who use the Amazon site in Spain for retail sales of Apple products are excluded from the online main market in Spain due to the protocol between Apple and Amazon, it was reported that sellers who do not have the authority to sell on Amazon lost an important sales channel.