Apparently, Apple has been monopolising its distribution through exclusive contracts with distributors. Such agreements violate Article 7 of the Competition Protection Law, as indicated by the Egyptian Competition Protection Authority (ECPA).
After the ECPA identified the articles in the exclusive contracts that violated the law, it quashed them; deeming them no longer viable nor valid.
In other words, Apple sought to extinguish the competition of those who didn’t have exclusive contracts with; rendering the possibility of a free market where distributors compete equally, non-existent.
This tactic they used drove Apple’s customers to buy from the exclusive distributors, who increased the prices of Apple products, in comparison to other Middle Eastern countries.
Needless to say, the more competition in the market between numbers of distributors, the better it is for consumers regarding price, among other things.
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By Dina Khafagy