Apple's mounting legal woes in China are getting worse. (Photo : Getty Images)
After its patent being challenged in China recently, Apple Inc seems to be in some new trouble in South Korea. The country's Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), the nation's anti-competition body, has begun an investigation into some issues pertaining to Apple's dealings in South Korea.
The Fair Trade Commission chairman, Jeong Jae-Chan recently revealed about the probe into Apple during a parliamentary hearing. He, however, refused to disclose the nature of the investigation, Reuters reported.
Earlier this month, domestic media earlier claimed the KFTC was examining the Cupertino tech titan's contracts with different wireless carriers in South Korean. However, it is not known whether the statement issued by Jae-Chan's is related to the rumors in the local media.
When contacted over the issue, Apple did not respond. Similarly, there has been no confirmation from the South Korean authorities regarding the nature of the probe, the report added.
In fact, Apple is well familiar with the South Korea's economic authority. In 2012, Apple itself had lodged formal antitrust complaints against its Korean rival Samsung with led the Korean Fair Trade Commission to initiate a similar inquiry, Apple Insider reported.
At that time, the Cupertino tech titan had accused that Samsung had abused specific wireless technology patents with a view to gain undue advantage in an extremely cutthroat smartphone market. The complaints had led to a contentious, multi-jurisdictional patent dispute between Apple and Samsung over a range of utility as well as design properties related to smartphones.
Eventually, Apple's complaint was rejected by the Korean Fair Trade Commission. Instead, the Korean authority cleared Samsung of any unlawful activity in using the supposed standard-essential patents as legal instruments.
Although the nature of the current probe has not been specified either by Jae-Chan or Apple, it is assumed that the company's iPhone sales policies may possibly be the target of the ongoing KFTC investigation. In the past, the Cupertino tech titan has breached international competition laws in favor of its aggressive deals with wireless carriers.
In April, Apple had has been responsible for drawing the ire of France over arduous contract terms. Earlier, in 2015, Taiwan had fined Apple $647,000 for compelling wireless carriers in that country to request approval before lowering the prices of iPhones.
Watch Taiwan fined Apple $670K for dictating iPhone price to local carriers below:
