Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, Nov. 10 (Xinhua)-- A new antitrust lawsuit filed in Washington today alleges that Apple and Amazon are "colluding" to raise the prices of the iPhone and iPad by eliminating third-party Amazon sellers who offer Apple products at lower prices.

The antitrust lawsuit, filed by Hagens Berman, alleges that Apple and Amazon have an "illegal horizontal agreement" that reduces the "competitive threat posed by third-party merchants" in violation of federal antitrust law. There used to be about 600 third-party sellers of Apple devices on Amazon Marketplace, which has been reduced to just seven.

Amazon began to eliminate third-party sellers after signing a 2019 agreement with Apple, limiting the number of distributors in the Amazon market to 20 in each country. In exchange, Apple offered Amazon discounted wholesale prices for iPhone and iPad.

By restricting third-party sellers from offering Apple products, Amazon has made itself the dominant seller of Apple products on Amazon Marketplace, from which both Amazon and Apple "benefit", even though it "hurts consumers".

The lawsuit alleges that before the agreement was reached, third-party distributors offered much lower prices than Apple had hoped, but they did not provide information on the specific devices whose prices rose as a result of the agreement, nor did they explain whether the seller was providing old or new equipment, or refurbished equipment.

CTOnews.com learned that Hagens Berman's goal is to issue a ban to prevent Amazon from blocking third-party Apple dealers and to compensate consumers who "overpay for iPhone and iPad."

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