Apple Inc. (AAPL) Fined by Taiwan Fair Trade Commission for iPhone Prices Violations With Mobile Carriers

Apple Inc. was fined more than half a million dollars after the Cupertino-based organization was found guilty of interfering with its smartphone prices.

Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission fined Apple 20 million New Taiwan dollars, which is approximately $666,000 when converted to the U.S. dollar.

As The Verge noted, Apple netted a profit of $7.5 billion in the latest reported quarter.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the commission stated Apple told Taiwan's three main mobile carriers to charge its iPhones higher than normal. The commission noted Apple violated Article 18 of Taiwan's Fair Trade Act, which states third parties are allowed to determine resale prices of its products.

"Through the email correspondence between Apple and these three telecom companies we discovered the companies submit their pricing plans to Apple to be approved or confirmed before the products hit the market," said the Taiwanese Fair Trade Commission in a statement, via the Wall Street Journal.

As VentureBeat reported, Apple could be fined an additional 50 million New Taiwan dollars if the Cupertino company doesn't comply.

The commission has also been investigating HTC, Samsung, and Sony for similar violations. The commission, however, has not found violations by HTC, Samsung, or Sony.

Apple has not issued a comment in response to the commission's decision.

__

For the latest updates, follow Michael Oleaga on Twitter: @EditorMikeO