Samsung, Xiaomi said to be implicated in India’s antitrust probe on Amazon, Walmart

Smartphone companies, including Samsung (OTCPK:SSNLF) and Xiaomi (OTCPK:XIACF), have been implicated in an antitrust probe initiated by Indian regulators against e-commerce firms Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Walmart’s (NYSE:WMT) Flipkart, Reuters reported Saturday.

The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said in a report that smartphone makers colluded with Amazon (AMZN) and Walmart’s (WMT) Flipkart to launch their products exclusively on e-commerce firms’ websites, in violation of India’s antitrust laws.

The investigation launched in 2020 found that Amazon (AMZN) and Flipkart allegedly gave preference to certain sellers, violating India’s local competition laws.

CCI’s 1,027-page report on Amazon (AMZN) found that Indian units of five companies, including Samsung (OTCPK:SSNLF), Xiaomi (OTCPK:XIACY), and Motorola (MSI), colluded with the U.S. tech giant and some of its affiliates.

Meanwhile, in a 1,696-page report, the CCI said Indian units of mobile phone makers, including Samsung (OTCPK:SSNLF), Xiaomi (OTCPK:XIACY), Motorola (MSI), and Lenovo (OTCPK:LNVGY) (OTCPK:LNVGF), conducted similar business practices with Flipkart.

The regulator will seek objections to the charges in the coming weeks. If found guilty, the accused companies are expected to face fines and requirements to change their business models.