France fined Apple 1.1 billion euros for monopoly do you know why?
France's antitrust and competition protection authority has decided to fine US electronics company Apple 1.1 billion euros ($1.2 billion), after criticism of the US company for allegedly being a distributor against free competition rules.
The French antitrust authority said that Apple conspired with two wholesalers, "Tech Data" and "Ingram Micro", in a move that reduced the ability of wholesalers dealing with other Apple products other than iPhone, such as Apple Mac computers, to compete in the market.
The two distribution companies were fined 76.1 million euros and 63 million euros respectively.
Isabella de Silva, head of the French Competition Protection Bureau, was quoted by Bloomberg news agency as saying in a statement on Monday that "Apple and the two distribution companies agreed not to compete with each other and to prevent resale companies from fuelling competition between them, thereby sterilizing the market in favor of Apple products."
The fine is the latest in a series of fines imposed by the French antitrust office on U.S. technology companies.
Late last year, the Office fined Internet service company Google 150 million euros for allegedly violating the operating rules of its advertising platform, Google Ads, to competition rules.
The decision to fine Apple today in France came two days after Apple announced on Saturday that hundreds of its stores in China continued to be closed until March 27 due to the spread of the new Coronavirus (Coved 19).
Apple said that "the French decision will cause chaos for companies in various industries" and pledged to appeal.
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