Competition. Apple’s fine in France was reduced from 1.1 billion to 371 million euros

This is a serious setback for the competition body. The Paris Court of Appeal reduced by two-thirds the fine imposed by the competition authority against Apple in March 2020. Two years ago, the French anti-monopoly organization imposed a fine of 1.1 billion euros, a record amount designed to hit the spirits. The French authorities had never imposed such a heavy fine. For this reason, the Paris Court of Appeal overturned the decision. It upheld only two of the three original complaints, even downgrading one of them. Thus justifying the revision of the sanction to 371.6 million euros.

“Although the Court of Appeal reviewed part of the competition authority’s decision, we believe that this cancellation should have been complete and plan to appeal to the Court of Cassation. The decision refers to practices that are more than ten years old, which even the competition authority is no longer in force.Apple immediately responded in a statement. The competition authority could also apply to the Court of Cassation.

“Very specific practice»

In 2020, Isabelle de Silva, then president of the competition body, wanted to draw attention to “ the very specific practices used by Apple to distribute its products in France, excluding the iPhone.” In particular, Apple was accused of colluding with two of its wholesalers, which were also sanctioned by the Autorité, to prevent distributors from competing with each other. This practice allowed Apple to maintain control over the retail price of its products. Apple later condemned the decision “practices more than ten years old that even the competition authority is no longer in force“.

However, Apple is not finished with fines and investigations opened by various competition authorities around the world. Many cases remain open.