Since July 2020, the Italian government has been investigating unfair competition practiced by Apple and Amazon on the Italian market. After more than 2 years of investigation, a judgment was finally published in which both companies were found guilty of unfair competition.
According to the published decision, Apple will have to pay a fine of 134.5 million of euro, and Amazon will have to pay a fine of 68.7 million of euro, which in total amounts to more than 200 million of euro. The case concerns an agreement concluded between the two companies in 2018, under which only selected sellers, including the Amazon store itself, had access to the sale of Apple equipment and Beats headphones on the Italian Amazon. In addition to the aforementioned penalty, both companies were obliged to allow other companies to sell electronics from Apple in the Amazon store. Both Apple and Amazon have announced that they are planning an appeal against the verdict.