Italian administrative court cancels a fine against Apple, Amazon

An Italian administrative court has canceled a fine imposed by the country’s antitrust authority on Apple and Amazon for alleged collusion, reports Reuters.

In November 2021, the tech giants were fined a total of more than 200 million euros (about US$225 million) by the Autorit Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM), Italy’s antitrust authority, for alleged anti-competitive cooperation in the sale of Apple and Beats products. As you might expect, both companies appealed.

Apple has this to say to Reuters: To ensure our customers purchase genuine products, we work closely with our reseller partners and have dedicated teams of experts around the world who work with law enforcement, customs and merchants to ensure only genuine Apple products are being sold.

And from Amazon: We reject the suggestion that Amazon benefits by excluding sellers from our store, since our business model relies on their success. As a result of the agreement, Italian customers can find the latest Apple and Beats products on our store, benefiting from a catalogue that more than doubled, with better deals and faster shipping.

Earlier this year, the fine was reduced to an overall €173.3 million ($170.4 million) due to a “material error” in the initial calculation. Amazon welcomed today’s ruling in a statement, while Apple hasn’t commented.