Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) said that it has found Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) guilty of price-fixing in the country.
According to the reports from 9to5Mac and The Financial Times, the Russian authority said it found Apple was forcing retailers to set the iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 prices at a certain amount.
Apple has not commented on the report yet, but previously the iPhone maker denied any involvement in fixing prices. It had said that “retailers set their own prices” for the iPhones in Russia.
According to the reports, 16 retailers apparently were selling the iPhones at prices fixed by Apple.
“If a retailer was found to be selling the iPhone at an “unsuitable” price, Apple would contact them and order them to change the price or risk having the sales agreement terminated,” according to the report.
In a statement, FAS said that its investigation revealed that “since the start of official sales in Russia of the Apple iPhone 5s, iPhone 5c, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, most resellers installed the same prices on them as recommended by Apple Rus and supported them for about 3 months.”
FAS head Andrey Tsarikovsky said that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has “actively cooperated” with the agency to resolve wrongdoings.
“In the course of the proceedings the Russian subsidiary of Apple actively co-operated with the FAS,” Tsarikovsky said. “The company has adopted the necessary measures to eliminate violations of the law and is pursuing a policy to prevent similar violations in the future.”
Apple could face fine for its price-fixing. But still, it is not clear what punishment will be imposed on the company.
“The worst case scenario for Apple is that it will be fined 15 percent of its sales in Russia, but that won’t be decided for another few months,” according to 9to5Mac.
