By Dana Mattioli
A House antitrust panel took direct aim at one of Amazon.com
Inc.'s defenses against scrutiny of its retail dominance and
detailed allegations about the company wielding its market
power.
In a report issued Tuesday, the Democratic-led House Antitrust
Subcommittee challenged the company's stance that its share of
total U.S. retail shopping is the most relevant way to understand
its size. The committee asserted repeatedly that Amazon dominates
U.S. e-commerce. The company's market share of U.S. online sales is
often said to be about 39%, but the figure is as high as 74% across
a range of product categories, according to the report.
"Amazon functions as a gatekeeper for e-commerce," the report
said. The document provided details that it says shows how Amazon
uses its size and platform to thwart competitors, dedicating more
pages to its findings about the Seattle-based technology giant than
the other large rivals featured in the probe.
Amazon addressed the findings in a blog post. "All large
organizations attract the attention of regulators, and we welcome
that scrutiny. But large companies are not dominant by definition,
and the presumption that success can only be the result of
anti-competitive behavior is simply wrong."
The House panel argued that Amazon has amassed "monopoly power"
over sellers on its site, bullied retail partners and improperly
used seller data to compete with rivals. The subcommittee cited
examples that it said showed how Amazon has launched copycat
versions of products sold by third-party merchants on its platform.
The report also accused the company of blocking search advertising
on its site for competitors and attempting to "replicate some of
the startups it meets with or invests in."
Several investigative articles by The Wall Street Journal
published earlier this year accused the company of similar actions.
Amazon launched an internal investigation following the story into
whether its employees used seller data to inform the company's
private-label strategy.
Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos, in testimony before the House
subcommittee this summer, said the investigation was continuing and
that the company has a policy of prohibiting employees from using
data on specific sellers to inform decisions about launching or
developing its own products. "I can't guarantee you that that
policy has never been violated," Mr. Bezos said then.
The company has told the Journal that it doesn't use
confidential information from companies it meets with. It didn't
directly address the question of whether or not it hobbles rivals'
marketing on its website.
The committee suggested legislation that could cause Amazon to
exit business lines, such as its private-label or devices
businesses, that compete with sellers on its platform. Such
legislation would be a blow for Amazon, which has developed more
than 100,000 private-label products and made significant
investments in the areas of smart devices, such as its Echo
speakers.
The report is the culmination of a more-than-yearlong review of
Amazon, Apple Inc., Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.'s Google and
whether these companies engage in anticompetitive behavior.
"The investigation revealed that the dominant platforms have
misappropriated the data of third parties that rely on their
platforms, effectively collecting information from customers only
to weaponize it against them as rivals," the report said.
The report noted the example of a seller of apparel for
construction workers and firefighters. The seller found success
with a new item and was making about $60,000 a year selling it on
Amazon's site, said Rep. David Cicilline (D., R.I.), who chairs the
subcommittee.
"One day, they woke up and found that Amazon had started listing
the exact same product, causing their sales to go to zero
overnight," Mr. Cicilline said to Mr. Bezos at the hearing. "Amazon
had undercut their price, setting it below what the manufacturer
would generally allow it to be sold," the congressman said.
Citing interviews and emails, the subcommittee accused Amazon of
discriminating against major competitors through its advertising
arm and using its dominance in some areas to extract advantages in
others.
Last month, the Journal reported that Amazon was limiting the
ability of some device competitors, such as Roku Inc., to place
certain ads on its website, according to Amazon employees and
executives at rival companies and advertising firms. Roku, which
makes devices that stream content to TVs, couldn't buy Amazon ads
tied to its own products, the article said, citing people familiar
with the matter. Amazon told the Journal that it is common practice
among retailers to choose which products they promote on their
websites.
Multiple agencies are looking into whether the mergers and
acquisitions process has been weaponized by technology companies
who buy small competitors and stifle innovation. The report cited
evidence that it says shows Amazon using its venture-capital arm to
"inform and improve Amazon's smart home ecosystem." The Journal
reported in July that since launching its Alexa Fund
venture-capital arm in 2015, Amazon had a pattern of meeting with
startup founders for deal meetings and investments and then
introducing competing products and services, according to
interviews with founders and investors.
In some cases, as the Journal reported, Amazon's decision to
launch a competing product devastated the business in which it
invested. In other cases, it met with startups about potential
takeovers, sought to understand how their technology works, then
declined to invest and later introduced similar Amazon-branded
products, according to some of the entrepreneurs and investors.
The congressonal report said Amazon "displayed a lack of candor"
and transparency when communicating with the committee over the
course of its investigation.
Write to Dana Mattioli at dana.mattioli@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 07, 2020 11:37 ET (15:37 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Mar 2024 a Abr 2024
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Abr 2023 a Abr 2024
