A few days ago, US regulators launched an antitrust investigation against Google. One of the important reasons is that Google pays Apple tens of billions of fees each year to obtain the privilege of the default search engine for Apple mobile phones.
Now, Amazon and Apple are being targeted by German regulators.
According to reports, the German antitrust agency has launched an investigation into the possible anti-competitive behavior of Amazon and Apple.
Amazon prohibits some third-party merchants from selling certain brands of goods on its e-commerce platform, and the German Federal Cartel Office is conducting an investigation to determine whether this move complies with German law.
The most prominent example is the cooperation between Amazon and mobile phone manufacturer Apple. Only Apple dealers and Amazon’s own customers sell iPhone smartphones on its platform.
These agreements can help prevent goods from piracy. However, to prohibit the sale of goods by third parties, one must “comply with the principle of proportionality and not affect competition.”
Before launching this new investigation on Amazon, in August, the German competition regulator launched an investigation into whether and how Amazon affected the pricing of traders in its market.
The 21ic family learned that Germany is Amazon’s second largest market after the United States. In the German market, sales from third-party dealers accounted for 65% of total sales from March to May 2020.
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