Apple doesn’t sell iPhones directly in Russia, but it’s being investigated by the country’s federal Anti-Monopoly Service for colluding with resellers to fix the price on its devices.
The government agency revealed today that it has opened a case against Apple and 16 major resellers that all had identical prices for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus models when they launched in Russia in October 2015.
“The Anti-Monopoly Service sees signs of price-fixing violations in the Russian Federation at Apple iPhone resellers, which resulted in the same prices for these smartphones,” the agency said in a statement to Reuters.
Apple has been accused of price-fixing in the past after the launch of the iBookstore. The iPhone-maker was found guilty of colluding with publishers to raise the price of e-books. Accusations of price-fixing hardware though is a new one for the company.
The investigation into iPhone price-fixing in Russia supposedly found that resellers all set identical prices for a certain period of time. Russia’s largest carrier Euroset has denied the price fixing allegations while Apple has not yet responded to requests for comment.
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
2 responses to “Apple and resellers accused of iPhone price-fixing in Russia”
I wonder why companies even bother with the Russian market… I doubt they make much money there and with all you can read over the internet – it’s hardly worth the hassle…
Because Apple won’t let the Russian government spy on their customers