FAS will check the prices of Samsung smartphones
The Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia opened a case on coordinating the installation of prices for Samsung smartphones. “We have complaints against Samsung [about price coordination for smartphones], we are checking. What will end, I can not say. I think next year we will somehow voice this topic with Samsung, ”commented the situation for TASS, the head of the anti-cartel department, Andrei Tenishev.
According to RBC , the FAS has requested documents from the company about the prices of Samsung smartphones from January 1, 2015. In this case, what models in question are not reported.
Samsung knows about the actions of the FAS. “The activities of Samsung Electronics in Russia are built in strict accordance with the laws of Russia. In its work, Samsung Electronics is guided by the principles of fair competition, ”said a company representative.
The case of price collusion on Samsung products was initiated by analogy with a similar pricing case on Apple products.
Recall, after the official sale of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6S smartphones was received, FAS received a complaint about price collusion between retailers Euroset, Eldorado, Svyaznoy, re: Store, Ozon.ru, Citylink, Megafon, VimpelCom and others. From the start of sales, all these structures installed the same value on smartphones and held the price for some time. During the proceedings in the department came to the conclusion that Apple has influenced retailers and forced them to accept the “recommended” price for the Russian Federation as “mandatory”.
At the same time, Apple argued that it does not dictate prices for retailers, and the latter said that when pricing it was based on the existing market conditions. Such actions on the part of manufacturers violate the law “On the Protection of Competition” (part 5, article 11). A pricing check is now being conducted on the company's new product, the iPhone 7 smartphone.
The decision on the Apple case will be announced in February 2017. If you plead guilty to Apple, which officially operates on the territory of the Russian Federation through its structures LLC Apple Rus, Apple Holding BV, Apple Sales Ireland, Apple Operations International and Apple Inc, face fines in accordance with Art. 14.32 of the Administrative Code for the "coordination of economic activity." The amount of the fine is from 1 to 5 million rubles.
If the fact of collusion with Samsung retailers and the influence of the Korean company on the selling price of their smartphones will be proved, it is threatened with the same measures.