Amazon and Apple ‘conspired’ to raise iPhone and iPad prices, says antitrust lawsuit

Apple and Amazon have worked together to raise the prices of iPhones and iPads, removing Amazon’s third-party sellers who offered lower prices on Apple products, a new antitrust lawsuit filed in Washington today reveals. I was.

According to a complaint filed by the law firm of Hagens Berman, Apple and Amazon entered into an “illegal horizontal agreement” to mitigate “competitive threats from third-party merchants,” a violation of federal antitrust law. board. Amazon Marketplace had about 600 third-party sellers of Apple devices, but it was narrowed down to just 7.

Amazon began cutting out third-party sellers after signing a 2019 deal with Apple to limit the number of resellers on its Amazon marketplace to 20 per country. Offered wholesale discounts on iPhones and iPads to

By restricting third-party sellers from selling Apple products, Amazon has become the dominant seller of Apple products on the Amazon marketplace. Amazon and Apple were “in a position to profit” despite “harming the public.”

Prior to the deal, the lawsuit alleges that third-party resellers offered “heavily discounted prices” beyond what Apple was asking for its online storefront, resulting in lower prices for consumers. I’m here. There is no mention of the specific devices whose prices were increased under the agreement, and an explanation as to whether the seller was offering older devices, current products, or whether these were playback devices. There is no

“When Apple and Amazon renewed their existing reseller agreements in 2019, the only losers in their plans were consumers caught off guard by price increases,” said Berman. “The consumer used to be able to find his 20% or more discount on iPhones and iPads sold on Amazon Marketplace, but now he’s locked into Apple’s premium pricing.”

Hagens Berman is seeking an injunction to stop Amazon from blocking third-party Apple resellers and refunding consumers who “overpaid for iPhones and iPads.”