1665187165 Why Apple can be happy with multi million dollar fine in

Why Apple can be ‘happy’ with multi-million dollar fine in France

You might not expect it, but Apple can get its hands on a recently imposed fine of 372 million euros. That fine was imposed in France, because of a case that had something to do with violations of competition laws. As it turns out, that amount could have been much, much higher.

How high? Well, initially a French judge put a figure on his desk of 1.1 billion euros. But a follow-up case now reveals that this amount is “disproportionately high,” so it has been reduced by more than 700 million euros. This new amount is “sufficient,” the court said.

hefty fine for Apple

That’s what both Bloomberg and Reuters write. The fine comes from 2020; that’s when Apple received it on its doorstep from the French version of the Authority for the Consumer and Market (Autorité de la Concurrence). The watchdog accused the company of manipulating the market for the products it offers in stores.

Apple Store ChinaThe new Apple Store (Image: Apple)

The case dates back to 2012. The investigation found that Apple was not going to compete with two wholesalers. Also, some sellers were not allowed to lower the prices of its products. Moreover, the iPhone maker sometimes supplied a limited number of iPads to other stores; its own stores always had a larger stock.

Is this fine going to be paid?

The big question now is: will Apple pay that fine? In a statement to Reuters, an unidentified representative says the company plans to appeal. The iPad maker believes it will not have to pay the fine because these incidents occurred more than a decade ago.

Apple is not only under the microscope in France. The European Union has also set its sights on the company because of a variety of App Store policies. In addition, third-party apps are not yet allowed to use the iPhone’s NFC chip. Meanwhile, the manufacturer is still at loggerheads with Epic Games and Cydia (also because of policies regarding the App Store).

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