The Korean FTC has found Apple guilty of unfair practices in its dealings with carriers, but it will let Apple respond, and Apple has done so (via The Korea Herald).
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Apple’s Response
Apple has accepted that its negotiating power is strong as a huge company, but argues that strong negotiating power isn’t inherently abusive.
Apple said that advertisements benefit both the company and Korean mobile carriers, and that the action was fully justifiable.
The FTC, however, claimed Apple, in reality holds a clear advantage over local mobile carriers, and that shifting the cost of advertisements is only another means to squeeze the profits of the carriers.
If the FTC doesn’t accept Apple’s response it could levy a fine of up to 2% of related revenues, ‘related’ likely meaning sales of iPhones through carriers.
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