Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) will face part of a UK consumer lawsuit alleging that restrictions on sellers of Apple products on Amazon’s UK marketplace reduced competition and increased prices.
Britain’s Competition Appeal Tribunal on Monday allowed claims concerning Apple products purchased through Amazon’s marketplace to proceed, while rejecting broader claims covering products bought directly from Apple and other retailers.
The lawsuit alleges that Apple and Amazon reached an agreement in 2018 restricting which sellers could offer Apple and Beats-branded products through Amazon’s UK website. The claimant alleges that the arrangement reduced competition and resulted in higher prices.
According to the claimant, the portion of the case permitted to proceed could be worth between £289 million ($383 million) and £306 million, including interest.
Tribunal Allows Amazon Marketplace Claims to Proceed
Judge Kelyn Bacon said claims concerning purchases made through Amazon’s marketplace were “plausible, credible and grounded in the facts”, but rejected the wider claims involving purchases from other retailers because they relied on a “complex and speculative theory of harm”.
The ruling allows the allegations concerning Amazon marketplace purchases to move forward and does not constitute a finding that Apple or Amazon breached competition law.
The tribunal said there was a realistic basis for arguing that restrictions on resellers could have resulted in consumers paying higher prices for Apple products purchased through Amazon.
However, it found there was insufficient evidence at this stage to support allegations that the conduct also raised prices for Apple products purchased directly from Apple or through other retailers.
Lawsuit Refiled With New Proposed Consumer Representative
The Competition Appeal Tribunal declined last year to allow a largely similar lawsuit brought by consumer law academic Christine Riefa to proceed, citing concerns relating to the proposed class representative and litigation funding arrangements.
The claim was subsequently refiled by Justin Le Patourel, who replaced Riefa as the proposed representative of consumers.
The latest decision permits only part of the consumer claim to proceed, with the allegations concerning purchases outside Amazon’s marketplace excluded from the case.
