• France’s competition watchdog is getting ready to hit Apple with an antitrust fine next Monday, two sources close to the matter told Reuters.
  • The sources didn’t give details about how big the fine will be.
  • Apple paid $28 million to France’s consumer watchdog earlier this year for failing to tell customers that updating their iPhones could slow down their device.
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France’s competition watchdog is set to fine iPhone maker Apple next Monday over anti-competitive behaviour in its distribution and sales network, two sources close to the matter said on Thursday.

One of the sources said the competition authority will give a decision on the matter on Monday, confirming an earlier report by online news website Politico Europe.

The two sources did not elaborate further on the content or the size of the fine. The French competition authority declined to comment.

From her appointment as the head of the French antitrust watchdog, Isabelle de Silva has set her sights on US tech giants, including Google which she fined 150 million euros ($167 million) for opaque advertising rules.

Apple mentioned in its latest annual report that France's competition authority was alleging that aspects of the its sales and distribution practices were violating French competition law, which it denies.

The French consumer watchdog DGCCRF said earlier this year that the California-based company agreed to pay 25 million euros ($28 million) for failing to inform iPhone users that updates of the operating system could slow down the functioning of the device.

Silicon Valley companies are coming under increasing scrutiny from governments over antitrust issues. Since 2017 Google has racked up over $9 billion in EU fines, and in the US the FTC is investigating acquisitions made by Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, and Google on antitrust grounds.

Thus far Apple has escaped the big tech antitrust scrutiny largely unscathed, although in March last year streaming giant Spotify lodged an antitrust complaint against Apple with the EU.