Apple is expected to face fines from Korea's antitrust regulator for abusing its dominant position among mobile operators, industry sources told the Korea Times. The Fair Trade Commission still needs to assess the type of penalty to be imposed, a process that could take up to two months, the report said.
Since Apple began selling the iPhone in South Korea in 2009, the company has been accused of unfair trading practices, including shifting advertising costs to local mobile carriers and getting telecom firms to host release ceremonies for new products. The smartphone maker allegedly ordered mobile operators to follow its own guidelines in displaying products and designing ads without sharing the costs and obliges them to order a certain amount of products to sell in the country.
Apple is also facing complaints that Korean consumers have to pay KRW 200,000 (USD 187) more than American and Japanese customers for the iPhone X. The 64 GB model costs KRW 1.36 million and the 256 GB handset KRW 1.55 million in Korea.
The FTC began an investigation in 2016, and last November searched the offices of Apple Korea for the first time.
