Russia has officially found the tech giant Apple guilty of fixing prices of their popular iPhones for the past several years in the country.
Apple has been dealt a surprising blow, as Russia has officially found the tech company guilty of fixing prices of their iPhones in the country for several years.
The Federal Antimonopoly Service, which is Russia’s antitrust regulator, announced on Tuesday that the tech company had illegally demanded that a reported 16 retailers in the country fix their prices for iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 products. Any retailer that attempted to discount the products would be asked by Apple to change the price or risk the tech company terminating their contract.
“We worked closely with FAS during their investigation and are glad to put this matter behind us,” an Apple spokesperson said according to The Financial Times. “We work hard to make the best products and services in the world for our customers and are deeply committed to making sure our resellers are able to compete fairly in the markets where we do business.”
Apple is expected to pay a fine due to the price fixing in Russia, although the official fine has yet to be announced. Google was recently found guilty of violating competition regulations in Russia a few months ago, and they were fined the equivalent of $7.4 million.
This obviously isn’t the greatest look for the tech giant, but it’s unlikely that this will have an impact on the company’s long-term plans or its business domestically in the United States.
