French Court Lowers Antitrust Fine Against Apple Over Third-Party Retailer Pricing

[MacRumors]

An appeals court in France today lowered a fine levied against Apple by the French Competition Authority due to alleged "anti-competitive behaviour towards its distribution and retail network," according to Reuters. The report claims the fine has been lowered to 372 million euros, down from the original amount of 1.1 billion euros.

The antitrust regulator fined Apple in 2020 after finding that it imposed prices on Apple Authorized Resellers in France so that prices were in line with those charged at Apple Stores and on Apple.com. The fine was reduced after the appeals court dropped one of the three main charges related to price-fixing allegations, and significantly lowered the rate applied to calculate the overall fine, according to the report.

The investigation began after a dispute between Apple and one of its leading French wholesalers, which alleged that it went out of business due to Apple's uncompetitive rules. When fined in 2020, Apple said the French Competition Authority's decision was "disheartening" and "discards thirty years of legal precedent."

Article Link: French Court Lowers Antitrust Fine Against Apple Over Third-Party Retailer Pricing

 

[Eldaerenth Faexidor]

That is a lot of dough!

 

[drumpat01]

You know...when will governments realize that fining Apple $350 mil is NOTHING. Apple makes over $15 BILLION every 3 months. You fined them nothing and they are zero reasons to change. These laws need to be changed to be a % of yearly earnings. Instead of $350 Mil, it should have been 5% of 2020 profits. Maybe then Apple will take these seriously.

 

[gnipgnop]

They dropped the price fixing charges. Apple is still appealing the ruling by saying that the FCA knows that the other charges are based on "practices from more than a decade ago that even the (French authority) recognised are no longer in use."

 

[code-m]

That is a lot of dough!

With the exchange rate that is a steal 😝

 

[genovelle]

You know...when will governments realize that fining Apple $350 mil is NOTHING. Apple makes over $15 BILLION every 3 months. You fined them nothing and they are zero reasons to change. These laws need to be changed to be a % of yearly earnings. Instead of $350 Mil, it should have been 5% of 2020 profits. Maybe then Apple will take these seriously.

So Apple has rules and offered the contract in place. The Wholesaler decided to agree to those terms but claim apple is being anticompetitive. Truth is. They don’t have to offer their products to wholesalers and won’t if it impacts their bottom line. The problem is Apple is one of the few companies that is structured properly. There is no reason to loose money to do business just to claim market share. That is a common go to market strategy and the reason so few companies make it.

 

[code-m]

So Apple has rules and offered the contract in place. The Wholesaler decided to agree to those terms but claim apple is being anticompetitive. Truth is. They don’t have to offer their products to wholesalers and won’t if it impacts their bottom line. The problem is Apple is one of the few companies that is structured properly. There is no reason to loose money to do business just to claim market share. That is a common go to market strategy and the reason so few companies make it.

I can potentially see Apple offering its products at a better discount to larger outfits compared to the ones who have a valid concern.

 

[sw1tcher]

That is a lot of dough!

372 million euros is roughly USD$365,635,080.00.

Is it a lot of money? Yes, to us common people. But not for Apple.

Apple had a profit of $19.4 billion last quarter. That means Apple's profit was roughly $215,555,555 per day. Apple can pay off this fine in less than 2 days.

 

[tastesliketailpipe]

Why does an American company have to listen to some European country?

If you don’t like iPhones - don’t sell them.

 

[icerabbit]

Every manufacturer can choose to offer its products a few different ways. Everybody who wants to sell it, exclusive store or licensed reseller agreement, or its own network of stores. Any store goes will likely not have many strings attached. But, anything within a network only and maybe a sprinkle of exclusivity … may come with strings attached of how you present the merchandise, how you price it, how you service it, how much volume you need to sell or you may lose your license, etc.

Ever wonder why many outdoor equipment and vehicle dealerships are single brand or limited to a single manufacturer’s portfolio?

If you want to sell another brand’s product, you’re going to set up a new dealership.

You can’t always sell what you want, the way you may want …

 

[I7guy]

You know...when will governments realize that fining Apple $350 mil is NOTHING. Apple makes over $15 BILLION every 3 months. You fined them nothing and they are zero reasons to change. These laws need to be changed to be a % of yearly earnings. Instead of $350 Mil, it should have been 5% of 2020 profits. Maybe then Apple will take these seriously.

You don't think Apple is entitled to the same fairness?

 

[BaldiMac]

You know...when will governments realize that fining Apple $350 mil is NOTHING. Apple makes over $15 BILLION every 3 months. You fined them nothing and they are zero reasons to change. These laws need to be changed to be a % of yearly earnings. Instead of $350 Mil, it should have been 5% of 2020 profits. Maybe then Apple will take these seriously.

372 million euros is roughly USD$365,635,080.00.

Is it a lot of money? Yes, to us common people. But not for Apple.

Apple had a profit of $19.4 billion last quarter. That means Apple's profit was roughly $215,555,555 per day. Apple can pay off this fine in less than 2 days.

I don't think it's reasonable for individual countries to fine Apple based on global profits. You should compare the fine to their French revenue.

 

[AhRiHmAn]

Why does an American company have to listen to some European country?

If you don’t like iPhones - don’t sell them.

Well isn't it a bit simplistic way of thinking? 😅

 

[Eldaerenth Faexidor]

372 million euros is roughly USD$365,635,080.00.

Is it a lot of money? Yes, to us common people. But not for Apple.

Apple had a profit of $19.4 billion last quarter. That means Apple's profit was roughly $215,555,555 per day. Apple can pay off this fine in less than 2 days.

Imagine how many retail workers could benefit from a raise paid from the USD$365,635,080.00 fine…

 

[cocky jeremy]

I can potentially see Apple offering its products at a better discount to larger outfits compared to the ones who have a valid concern.

Well, yeah. If Company A makes you half a billion dollars a year, and Company B makes you half a million dollars a year, you're going to give better pricing for the company making you more money. Same with paying employees more that help make the company more money. That's why retail store employees don't get engineer paychecks.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

Sounds like Apple fed the government a few brown paper envelopes 😂

 

[I7guy]

Sounds like Apple fed the government a few brown paper envelopes 😂

Yeah, that must be it.

 

[mystery hill]

Why does an American company have to listen to some European country?

If you don’t like iPhones - don’t sell them.

Because that American company really wants money from Europeans.

 

[applicious84]

Why does an American company have to listen to some European country?

If you don’t like iPhones - don’t sell them.

I agree! And Apple shouldn't sell iPhones wherever they're sued, especially the US!!

 

[falkon-engine]

372 Million is still a lot of Euros.

 

[falkon-engine]

Why does an American company have to listen to some European country?

If you don’t like iPhones - don’t sell them.

You can't just go to a foreign country and break its laws and then don't expect to be prosecuted. Imagine if foreign nationals came to America, committed crimes, such as say rob you of all your belongings, and were somehow exempt from American prosecution. That would wreak havoc in society.

If Apple chooses to do business in France or any other country, then it has to abide by all applicable laws, terms, and conditions.

 

[applicious84]

Imagine how many retail workers could benefit from a raise paid from the USD$365,635,080.00 fine…

Interesting. I think French retail workers at Apple would benefit quite a bit if Apple actually used that money for that purpose!

 

[CapitalIdea]

You know...when will governments realize that fining Apple $350 mil is NOTHING. Apple makes over $15 BILLION every 3 months. You fined them nothing and they are zero reasons to change. These laws need to be changed to be a % of yearly earnings. Instead of $350 Mil, it should have been 5% of 2020 profits. Maybe then Apple will take these seriously.

Apple doesn’t have to maintain a reseller network at all. If you want to make it untenable for them to have parity pricing then you should also be fine with all of the resellers losing authorization since they are SUPPOSED to be adding some kind of value to the sale.

 

[XXPP]

I don't understand why, as a producer, I can't set the price. Why can one retailer sell without a margin and destroy everyone else who needs to earn money and cannot afford to pay extra for the business.

 

[The_Gream]

When I was in college, I worked for an Authorized Campus Reseller. We made 8% of the retail value of each Mac we sold - and we sold a lot of laptops and iMacs. Not only that, out buyer worked with our Apple Corporate rep and we had the ability to offer some amazing deals to students and the parents all the time. Apple has agreements for setting prices but they offer a lot of stuff if your buyer knows what he is doing.

I don’t feel bad for these companies that go under because their leadership is bad at business and would rather blame someone else. I feel sorry for the line workers who lost their livelihood.