Image copyright
Getty Images
France’s competition authority has imposed a record €1.1bn (£1bn; $1.2bn) fine on US tech giant Apple for what it sees as anti-competitive practices.
It is the biggest fine ever imposed by the French regulator.
The firm and two of its wholesalers in France were found to have an unfair agreement to control prices.
The investigation began in 2012, following a complaint by eBizcuss, which sells Apple products as an Apple Premium Reseller.
The authority’s chief Isabelle de Silva said “Apple abusively exploited the economic dependence of these premium resellers on it and imposed unfair economic conditions on them that were worse than those for its integrated network of retailers”.
Apple says it profoundly disagrees with the ruling and is appealing against it.