Apple has been ordered by Italian regulators to pay fines totally 10 million euros, following complaints that the company intentionally slowed down the iPhone via software updates and also failed to provide clear information to users on how to maintain and replace their batteries.
According to Reuters, groups of consumers in Italy had complained that software updates had reduced the functionality of their devices, accusing Apple of specifically releasing the updates to “push clients into buying new handsets.” In a statement accompanying the ruling, Italy’s anti-trust watchdog said that Apple’s software updates “had caused serious dysfunctions and reduced performance significantly, thereby accelerating the process of replacing them.” The regulator also named Samsung in the case, levying a five million euro fine on the latter company for the offence of using software updates to slow down its mobile phones, although only Apple was cited for failing to provide clear information to users about battery maintenance, resulting in the larger fine for the iPhone maker.
The anti-trust regulator also added that neither firm had given their customers sufficient information about what the impact of the software updates would be, “or any means of restoring the original functionality of the products.”
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