Sacré bleu! France fines Apple €1.1 billion over anti-competitive methods.

Apple has been fined a massive €1.1 billion, or $1.23 billion, by the French competition authority after it was accused of anti-competitive practices.

This is the result of an investigation that has been ongoing for years, with Apple's relationship with two of its wholesalers of particular interest. Ingram Micro and Tech Data have both also been fined – €62.9 million and €76.1 million respectively.

It's the belief if French authorities that Apple's agreement with the two wholesalers meant that they would not compete against one another, effectively killing competition in the market. That had the knock-on effect of fixing prices in place, something that didn't go down well with the authorities investigating. The result is a record fine, although it's one that Apple told CNBC that it intends to appeal.

A spokesperson for Apple told CNBC: "The French Competition Authority's decision is disheartening. It relates to practices from over a decade ago and discards thirty years of legal precedent that all companies in France rely on with an order that will cause chaos for companies across all industries. We strongly disagree with them and plan to appeal."