Xiaomi Wants India To Recall Antitrust Report On Walmart’s Flipkart
Photo: Reuters/Anushree Fadnavis
NEW DELHI, (REUTERS) – China’s Xiaomi has asked India’s antitrust body to recall its report that found the company and Walmart’s Flipkart breached competition laws, arguing it contains commercial secrets.
Any recall of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) report could delay its antitrust investigation, which began in 2021. In a rare move in August, the commission recalled an antitrust report on Apple after the company similarly complained commercial secrets were disclosed.
Xiaomi has told the commission in an application the investigation report on Flipkart contains sensitive business data on the smartphone company which was supposed to be redacted when the document was shared with parties in the case, said sources familiar with the matter.
One of Xiaomi’s concerns with the Flipkart report is that it contains its model-wise sales which is sensitive information, one of the sources said.
The commission does not make investigation reports public and they are only shared with parties to the case. A recall requires parties to return the report which then undergoes further review for redactions.
The watchdog has found that e-commerce giants Amazon and Flipkart gave preference to select sellers and prioritized certain listings, and also colluded with companies like Xiaomi to launch phones exclusively on their websites.
Counterpoint Research data shows that South Korea’s Samsung and China’s Xiaomi are two of India’s biggest smartphone players, together holding an almost 36% market share, with China’s Vivo on 19%.
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