French fine for Apple of 1.1 billion euros has been reduced to 372 million euros

The fine that Apple has to pay in France for restricting competition and abuse of market power has been significantly reduced. Instead of 1.1 billion euros, the American company now has to pay 372 million euros.

Apple was fined in 2020 by the French competition regulator Autorité de la Concurrence (AdlC). He said that from 2005 to 2013, Apple mainly distributed its products through two wholesalers, making competition between wholesalers for Apple products impossible. The two wholesalers in question, Tech Data and Ingram Micro, were also fined at the time.

However, Apple’s fine is now being reduced, as one of the charges has been dismissed by the judge, writing among others Reuters and Bloomberg. This concerns the allegation that Apple had made price agreements with Authorized Resellers and Premium Resellers. In this way, the sellers could not compete with each other by lowering prices, the AdlC stated. Because, according to the judge, these agreements have not been proven, the fine is significantly reduced.

Apple said in a response to Reuters that it was satisfied with the judge’s decision. However, the company prefers that the entire fine be deleted and is therefore appealing. The AdlC will investigate how it can challenge the judge’s decision.