An Apple Store in the 9th quarter of Paris, on March 15, 2020 Getty ImagesTopline: Apple has been slapped with a $1.2 billion fine by French antitrust authorities on Monday, over allegedly abusing its economic leverage over independent 'Premium' resellers of Apple iPhones, MacBooks and other gadgets. The tech giant also subjected its Premium resellers to “unfair and unfavorable commercial conditions,” compared to its integrated sellers. Two wholesalers of Apple products, Tech Data and Ingram Micro, were also fined a collective $156 million. Crucial comment: “Apple and its two wholesalers have agreed not to compete with each other and to prevent distributors from competing with each other, thereby sterilising the wholesale market for Apple products,” France’s competition watchdog said in a statement. Google was fined $166 million late last year for having unclear advertising around its Google Ads product by the French Competition Authority.

Source: Forbes March 16, 2020 10:41 UTC