American based tech giant Apple (Apple) and popular e-commerce platform Amazon (Amazon) got into trouble in the US over a consumer-antitrust lawsuit. The two companies have been accused of artificially increasing the prices of iPhones and iPads. A federal judge in Seattle reprimanded Apple and Amazon during a hearing today.
Earlier, US District Judge John Coughenour was not happy with Apple and Amazon’s statements and ruled against them. Coffinor said that – many companies are currently engaged in the same business and as a result the trust of the customers in the company is decreasing.
Apple and Amazon were sued in November last year
Let it be known that the case against Apple and Amazon was filed in November last year. The lawsuit was filed jointly by several US residents who purchased iPads and iPhones from Amazon in January 2019. The case has also repeatedly highlighted an agreement signed between the two companies, which the complainants have vehemently contested. It should be noted that after the agreement was entered into, Amazon violated the Consumer Anti-Trust Act by limiting the number of competing resellers.
As of 2018, there were about 600 third-party Apple resellers on Amazon, according to plaintiffs’ lawyers. But Apple, in order to increase their profits, made a tempting offer to Amazon instead of tying up this huge number of sellers. The tech giant agreed to give Amazon significant discounts on its products if it cut the number of resellers from the marketplace.
After the deal emerged, Apple argued that Amazon had offered to limit the number of authorized resellers to reduce counterfeit Apple products sold on the e-commerce platform. And as both parties agreed, this agreement was executed.
However, the plaintiffs feel that this agreement is anti-buyer and the court agreed with their words. The Seattle judge said the deal between Apple and Amazon will be discussed at a later hearing pending appropriate evidence. Otherwise, they may face heavy fines or penalties.
