Apple Reseller Sues Apple in France
Apple in France " >An Apple reseller in France is mighty upset with Apple right now, and has filed a lawsuit accusing the Cupertino-based company of unfair competition. eBizcuss, France’s largest Apple reseller, says that Apple uses its retail stores to gain a competitive advantage by stocking its own shelves first.
eBizcuss CEO François Prudent says that his 16 stores across France received fewer iPad 2 and MacBook Air shipments during the third quarter of 2011 and no iPhone 4S’s during the fourth quarter, causing a 30 percent drop in profits.
According to the lawsuit, the problems first began in 2009, which was when Apple opened its inaugural retail store in France. Understandably, business declined when patrons decided to visit the official Apple Store instead of a reseller, but Prudent has also had to spend $6.5 million dollars to bring its point-of-sale systems up to Apple’s requested standards.
Prudent also says that Apple is also stealing business by undercutting the resellers on price. “The proposals submitted to Apple commercial enterprises are lower than prices at which we buy the equipment,” he said.
Apple’s foray into retail and its subsequent growth has caused many resellers to go out of business. In 2005, Apple reseller MACadam went under and cited Apple’s tactics as the reason. A reseller in Glasgow, Scotland was forced to shut down after an official Apple Store opened in the city and the reseller could not compete.
The eBizcuss lawsuit is not the first one filed against Apple by resellers either; the company faced litigation from resellers in both 2003 and 2005. Apple settled in both of these cases.
2011 was a busy year for Apple’s lawyers, and it looks like 2012 will be equally lucrative for the company’s attorneys as Apple continues to get embroiled in one lawsuit after another.
[via Apple Insider]