§4.1 Market definition in the presence of significant differentiation

85. Products may be significantly differentiated such that some products are closer substitutes than others. Differentiation can occur at the product or geographic level. Product differentiation occurs where attributes of the products matter for the customer’s choice (110), including design, brand image, technical specifications, durability, level of service or any other specific feature (111). Geographic differentiation occurs where the location of the individual customer and supplier matters for the customer’s choice (112). 86. Analysing the substitutes effectively available to customers to define the relevant market can lead the Commission to identify separate relevant markets within a continuum of differentiated products. In other cases, it is possible for the Commission to define a relatively broad relevant market that includes differentiated products (113). 87. In certain cases, the existence of chains of substitution (114) may lead the Commission to consider defining relevant markets where products or areas at the extremes of the market are not directly substitutable (115). However, in prior cases the Commission’s analysis of the facts has generally led it to reject such wider market definitions (116).

← 4 · All articles · 4.2 →

Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07