France fines Apple millions

France has imposed a multi-million euro fine on the technology company Apple for deliberately throttling the performance of iPhones. According to the Paris competition authority, the US company must pay 25 million euros. The investigation concerned allegations of "planned product death" - i.e. a short lifespan for cell phones in order to persuade customers to buy new ones.

Apple

The Directorate-General for Competition, Consumers and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) at the French Ministry of the Economy accused Apple of "misleading business practices". The company has now agreed to pay the fine as part of a settlement. Apple welcomed the settlement. The company wanted to ensure "that iPhones last as long as possible", it said.

The Parisian consumer association Hop spoke of a "historic victory against the scandalous practice of disposable products". It had initiated the case. Specifically, the French competition authorities accuse Apple of not informing its customers that updates to the iOS operating system significantly slowed down their iPhones.

In Italy, the competition authorities had already fined Apple ten million euros in the fall of 2018, while Samsung had to pay five million euros. Apple had already admitted to throttling the speed of older smartphones in 2017. According to the company, however, this was merely to extend battery life. (SDA)

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