France Has Opened An Investigation Over Apple's Contracts With Operators

Apple is feeling some heat in France and it has nothing to do with its new champagne colored iPhone 5s. French authorities are said to be looking into the company’s contracts with mobile operators in the country. It is the latest move by "European governments to ramp up pressure on largely U.S.-based tech firms," according to The Wall Street Journal. The French finance ministry is investigating the terms of contracts between cellphone suppliers and French phone operators. The probe is part of a larger investigation into the overall relationship between the two groups. According to an unnamed source:

For operators, handsets have become one of the big expenses. There is a balance of power that is shifting.

This isn’t the only investigation that Apple is facing in Europe. In Brussels, the European Commission is looking into Apple’s relationship with telecommunications operators. Again in France, an independent watchdog group is looking into Apple over antitrust claims. All this comes just days after Cupertino unveiled next-generation iPhones. Apple currently has 16 retail stores in France, including one in the famed Carrousel du Louvre.