France hits Apple with €1.1bn fine

Tech giant Apple received a fine of 1.1 billion Euros (1.2 billion dollars) from French authorities on Monday for making anti-competitive agreements with two firms in its distribution network.

“The two firms, Tech Data and Ingram Micro, were hit respectively with fines of 76.1 million Euros and 62.9 million Euros,’’ the French competition authority announced.

The products involved included iPads, but not iPhones.

The ruling said that Apple had abused the economic dependence of its “premium” resellers on Apple.

Report says the ruling originates in a complaint by Apple trader eBizcuss in 2012.

Apple did not react immediately to the announcement, however, had previously rejected the accusations. (dpa/NAN)