Apple wins 2/3 cut in French antitrust fine to 372 million euros, say sources

The appeals court backed the antitrust watchdog's charge that Apple abused the retailers' economic dependency on the company but tossed the fixed-pricing charge, one of the two sources said

A French court on Thursday substantially lowered a fine against iPhone maker Apple Inc. for alleged anti-competitive behaviour to 372 million euros ($366.31 million) from 1.1 billion euros previously, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

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The original fine had been imposed by France's antitrust watchdog in 2020 for what it described as Apple's anti-competitive behaviour towards its distribution and retail network.

At the time, it was the biggest fine levied by the antitrust regulator, which said Apple imposed prices on retail premium resellers so that the prices were aligned with those charged by the California firm in its own shops, or on the internet.

The appeals court backed the antitrust watchdog's charge that Apple abused the retailers' economic dependency on the company but tossed the fixed-pricing charge, one of the two sources said.

It also reduced the time scope of the charge of an alleged restriction of the wholesalers' clientele, the same source said.

The court also decided to significantly lower the rate applied to calculate the overall fine, the source added.