The Italian anti-trust authority slaps Apple and Amazon with multi-million-euro fines

The Italian body Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (or AGCM) has announced its ruling in a case brought against the companies Amazon and Apple over the way in which products from the Beats line of audio peripherals have been sold on the former's retail platform.

The AGCM has upheld allegations that the Beats brand has only been available on Amazon.it through Apple alone, or through a restricted pool of retailers as mandated by the same company. This system has apparently been in place as the result of an agreement between the Cupertino giant and the online retail behemoth dating from 2018.

The same contract also let Apple impose restrictions on selling Beats-series devices on amazon.it to non-Italian customers. This behavior has been deemed as a suppression of competition that contravenes EU law.

AGCM has declared that Apple is now liable for a fine of €135 million (~US$153 million), whereas Amazon must pay €78 million and also allow any seller who wants to offer genuine Beats products to do so via the Italian version of its site.

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