Apple found guilty of price-fixing iPhones in Russia

[Shawn Knight]

Antitrust regulators in Russia have found Apple guilty of coordinating with local retailers on the prices of iPhones sold in the country.

Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) claims that Apple worked with 16 major resellers to set the price at which they were allowed to sell the iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

Apple allegedly monitored the retail prices of its phones at the resellers and would even e-mail them if they found “inappropriate” pricing. The Federal Antimonopoly Service suggested that Apple may have been able to terminate contracts with resellers at any time, thus potentially strong-arming them into pricing compliance.

Andrey Tsarikovsky, Deputy Head of FAS Russia, said that during the course of the investigation, Apple’s Russian subsidiary actively cooperated with the FAS, adding that Apple has adopted the necessary measures to eliminate violations of the law and is pursuing a policy to prevent similar violations in the future.

The Financial Times notes that Apple will have around three months to challenge the matter once the full decision is published later this month.

The Cupertino-based company could face a fine of as much as 15 percent of sales from the region.

An Apple spokesperson told the publication that they worked closely with the FAS during their investigation and are glad to put the matter behind them.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/68521-apple-found-guilty-price-fixing-iphones-russia.html

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

That Apple spokesperson was lying through his teeth... His moving lips were a dead giveaway. I wouldn't put it past Apple to price fix once again. They have a history of doing it, paid their fines and moved on to the next price fixing scheme. They're bad at it, they always get caught but never seem to learn their lessons. The only solution is to fine them 100% of sales, maybe then they'll refine their method of price fixing.

 

[Mr Dude]

THE PRICES WERE WRONG, DAMNIT!

What's Tim Cook to do, just let the wrong margin-of-profit slide?
As a true entrepreneur, he just fixed the problem.
It's not his fault the Russians don't know how much to pay for them apples.

 

[lostinlodos]

That Apple spokesperson was lying through his teeth... His moving lips were a dead giveaway. I wouldn't put it past Apple to price fix once again. They have a history of doing it, paid their fines and moved on to the next price fixing scheme. They're bad at it, they always get caught but never seem to learn their lessons. The only solution is to fine them 100% of sales, maybe then they'll refine their method of price fixing.

Apple should just increase the amount they sell the phones to the retailer. Then the retailer couldn't price cut so far as to be out of joint with what Apple wants.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Apple should just increase the amount they sell the phones to the retailer. Then the retailer couldn't price cut so far as to be out of joint with what Apple wants.

The problem being is that Apple doesn't sell any of it's products to anyone with much of a discount. The retailers profit is usually quite marginal.