Author: John Ribeiro

Apple has been fined NT$20 million (US$663,332) by the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission for interfering with the pricing of the iPhone by three mobile carriers, according to reports.

The antitrust agency found Apple’s unit in charge of Taiwan sales violated article 18 of the Taiwan’s Fair Trade Act by asking operators Chunghwa Telecom, Far Eastone Telecommunications and Taiwan Mobile to submit pricing plans for approval by Apple, which had also recommended changes in the prices.

Apple’s agreements with the operators are said to have stipulated, for example, that subsidies these companies offer for buying iPhones with contracts cannot be lower than those of their competitors.

The Fair Trade Commission had not issued a statement on the order on its English website, though a Chinese version was available.

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Apple plans to offer the iPhone to more than 760 million China Mobile customers next month, which could help it increase its share from the fifth position in this growing market.

The company already sells its phones in China through two other carriers in the country—China Telecom and China Unicom—but a deal with China Mobile, the largest in the country, had eluded it for some time. One reason is that China Mobile uses a different wireless telecommunications standard from its competitors.

As part of an agreement announced Sunday, Apple’s iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c will be available from China Mobile and Apple retail stores in China on January 17. Preregistration of the phones will begin on the carrier’s website and through its customer service hotline from Wednesday.

The pricing of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c for China Mobile will be available at a later date, Apple said in a statement.

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