Spain slaps Apple and Amazon with 194-million-euro fine

Spain has slapped US tech giants Amazon and Apple with fines totalling 194 million euros for collusion in the sale of products.

The two companies had agreed to limit the sale of Apple products on Amazon’s Spanish websites by third-party resellers “which restricted competition,” Spain's competition watchdog said in a statement on Tuesday 18 July.

About 90% of resellers who used Amazon’s website in Spain to sell Apple products were excluded from Spain’s main online market, it added.

The organisation said that the most affected sellers were unauthorised Apple distributors, generally small operators that do not have a direct commercial relationship with Apple but sell their products with its consent, and that were the most active on the Amazon website in Spain.

Apple will need to pay 143.6 million euros, while Amazon was stung 50.5 million euros. It is the second largest fine imposed by National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC).