Apple and Amazon accused of ignoring Spanish antitrust order for nearly two years

Source: 9to5Mac

Following a 2023 decision that fined Apple and Amazon over anti‑competitive distribution clauses, Spain’s competition regulator now says the companies took too long to comply and may issue a new fine. Here are the details.

A bit of background

Back in 2023, Spain’s Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC) fined Apple and Amazon a total of €194 million (roughly $230 million) over anticompetitive practices.

From 9to5Mac’s original coverage of the decision:

• The case dates back to 2018, when the two companies reached a multi‑country agreement to restrict the sale of Apple and Beats products to Apple‑authorized resellers. The deal – which applied in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, and India – resulted in the creation of an official Apple Store on Amazon.
• The deal also restricted advertising space for Apple competitors on Amazon’s Spanish website when users searched for Apple products, reportedly blocking more than 90% of the existing retailers selling Apple devices on the site.

At the time, the CNMC concluded that the deal was anticompetitive and, in addition to imposing fines (€143.6 million for Apple and €50.5 million for Amazon), ordered that the offending clauses be struck down immediately.

Both companies appealed the CNMC’s 2023 decision before Spain’s High Court, and the original fine has been suspended pending judgment.

What’s new about the case

The companies’ appeal of the original fine did not exempt them from the obligation to remove the anti‑competitive clauses.

When the CNMC found that Apple and Amazon waited until May 2025 to actually remove them—nearly two years after being told to do so immediately—it opened a separate non‑compliance investigation.

As Reuters reported today, that investigation has now concluded, and the finding could mean yet another fine on top of the original one:

“Last October, the watchdog proposed opening an investigation into the companies’ failure to take action under the cease‑and‑desist order until May 2025, which is when they removed the clauses. At the time, the regulator said there were indications of an infringement due to non‑compliance.”

In a statement to Reuters, Apple said it disagreed with the CNMC’s findings, adding that it “had always complied with authorities’ orders.” The company also framed the situation as an attempt to curb counterfeit products rather than to limit legitimate competition on Amazon.

Amazon, for its part, also told Reuters that it disagrees with the decision and will appeal, arguing that limiting exposure of small and medium‑sized sellers would be against its own interests.