April 25, 2024

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The South Korean unit of US tech giant Apple will submit revised voluntary corrective measures over its alleged violation of competition law, the antitrust regulator said Sept. 30.

Apple Korea is suspected of having forced Korean mobile phone carriers -- SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus -- to pay the cost of television advertisements for its iPhones and their warranty costs.

The company said that advertisements benefit both the company and Korean mobile carriers and that the action was fully justifiable.

But the Fair Trade Commission, the country’s antitrust watchdog, has claimed that Apple 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.

In June, Apple Korea proposed a set of voluntary corrective measures to try to win a consent decree that would end the legal dispute without going to court.

The watchdog failed to reach a conclusion on the case during its deliberation last week and said Apple Korea should take complementary measures on its previous proposal.

“We will resume an in-depth deliberation and decide whether to begin the process of a consent decree” if Apple Korea submits improved voluntary corrective measures, the commission said.

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)