Russia’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service has launched an investigation into Apple’s activities within the Russian Federation. The agency has indicated it has taken the action following “signs of price-setting coordination” among iPhone resellers. The agency says it is acting on a complaint made by a member of the public.
The person within Russia who made the complaint provided evidence that both the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were priced identically across all 16 major Russian retailers during the launch month of October 2015.
Apple has stated it does not have any control over the pricing of its products when they are not sold by Apple directly. In a statement, quoted by Mobile World, the U.S. company explains: “Resellers set their own prices for the Apple products they sell in Russia and around the world.”
Five of the retailers said to part of the price fix have denied the accusations. Despite this, the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service has reiterated its view that the price-setting across the retailers was coordinated by Apple and the net result was the strict adherence to obligatory recommended prices. The agency also outlined that the Government of the Russian Federation has the power to impose fines on any company found to be guilty of price fixing and other anti-competitive practices.
The BBC notes that in 2015 a U.S. federal appeals court ruled that Apple conspired with publishers to fix the prices of e-books.
