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iPhone pricing said to draw scrutiny in Taiwan

The country's Fair Trade Commission says it will investigate charges that Apple has been interfering in how Taiwan's telecom operators are setting iPhone prices

Jon Skillings Editorial director
Jon Skillings is an editorial director at CNET, where he's worked since 2000. A born browser of dictionaries, he honed his language skills as a US Army linguist (Polish and German) before diving into editing for tech publications -- including at PC Week and the IDG News Service -- back when the web was just getting under way, and even a little before. For CNET, he's written on topics from GPS, AI and 5G to James Bond, aircraft, astronauts, brass instruments and music streaming services.
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Apple apparently is receiving some scrutiny in Taiwan over iPhone pricing.

The country's Fair Trade Commission said today that it plans to investigate allegations that Apple has been interfering in how Taiwan's telecom operators are setting iPhone prices, according to a report from Taiwan's Central News Agency.

The question of whether the U.S. tech giant has violated fair trade rules depends on whether the Taiwanese carriers are seen "as distributors of iPhones or consignment-based sellers," the report said. If Apple were to be found guilty, the maximum fine reportedly would be NT$25 million (US$835,000).

The report out of Taiwan follows similar rumblings in the European Union. Some European wireless carriers have reportedly complained about overly strict contract conditions from Apple that make it hard for smaller carriers to compete. The European Commission confirmed that it is looking into the matter, but has not begun an official antitrust investigation.

We've reached out to Apple for comment and will update this story if we hear back.

(Via Patently Apple)