China News Service, March 17th. According to Reuters, on the 16th local time, French regulators imposed a fine of 1.1 billion euros on Apple because of violations of competition in its distribution and retail network.
According to reports, this is the highest amount of fines ever issued by a French antitrust agency. European regulators are stepping up their inspections of U.S. tech giants to delve into their strong market positions, how they pay taxes, and how they protect consumer privacy.
The French authorities stated in the ruling that Apple forced the prices of premium distributors' products to be consistent with the official store and official website prices.
The French authorities said that Apple's two wholesalers in France fully complied with Apple's instructions on how to distribute products to customers and had no way to freely determine their business policies.
The report said that Apple Corps said it would appeal the ruling, saying that the ruling was inconsistent with French legal practice.
The company said, "The decision of the French competition authority is frustrating." "This is related to the operating model more than a decade ago, while abandoning the legal practices that all French companies have relied on for more than 30 years, which will cause companies in all industries to fall into confusion."