A lawsuit alleges that Apple and Amazon colluded to raise iPhone and iPad prices

November 9 (Reuters) – Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) They were accused in an antitrust lawsuit on Wednesday of conspiring to raise iPhone and iPad prices by removing nearly all sellers of new Apple products from Amazon.

The proposed class action in Seattle federal court challenged an agreement that went into effect in January 2019 under which Apple granted Amazon discounts of up to 10% on its products, in exchange for allowing Amazon to leave only seven out of every 600 sellers on its platform.

This turned Amazon into a dominant distributor of new iPhones and iPads on its website, according to the complaint, after it had previously carried a limited number of Apple products as well as fakes.

The complaint said prices rose more than 10%, while Apple settled the prices it charges in retail stores. He added that discounts of 20% or more that were previously common no longer exist.

“Erection barriers to entry to keep competitors out and raise prices in the wake of their elimination is exactly the kind of behavior that Congress has enacted antitrust laws to prevent,” the complaint said. The case is open and closed.

Apple and Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Revenues for Cupertino, California-based Apple and Seattle-based Amazon products exceeded $125 billion in the third quarter of this year.

The lawsuit filed on Wednesday covers US residents who have purchased new iPhones and iPads from Amazon since January 2019.

It is seeking unspecified tripartite damages, reparations and an end to the so-called “group boycott” by the companies.

The plaintiff, Stephen Floyd of Williamsport, Pennsylvania, said he paid $319.99 for a new iPad he bought from Amazon on the company’s website, and was denied the opportunity to pay less due to stifling competition.

Last month, an Italian administrative court canceled A fine of 173.3 million euros ($173.6 million) against Apple and Amazon by the Italian antitrust regulator for price complicity.

The case is Floyd v Amazon.com Inc et al., US District Court, Washington Western District, No. 22-01599.

(1 EUR = 1.002 USD)

(Jonathan Stemple reports) in New York. Additional reporting by Jeffrey Dustin in San Francisco. Editing by Bill Bercrot

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