Italy fines Apple EUR 10 million for 'misleading' water resistance claims

Nieuws Mobiel Italië 30 NOV 2020
Italy fines Apple EUR 10 million for 'misleading' water resistance claims

Italian antitrust watchdog AGCM has fined Apple EUR 10 million for using “misleading and aggressive” commercial practices to sell its iPhones in the country. Specifically, the regulator accused the company of claiming that several iPhone models (the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11pro and iPhone 11 pro Max) were water-resistant without clarifying they were only so under certain controlled circumstances, namely in "laboratory tests conducted with the use of static and pure water."

In addition, the company's disclaimer that the phone warranty did not cover damage caused by liquids served to deceive clients by failing to clarify the type of warranty referred to and by failing to “adequately contextualise the conditions and limitations of the assertive claims of water resistance.” In addition, according to the watchdog, the company breached Italy’s consumer code by refusing to provide support when customer phones were damaged by water or other liquids.

The latest antitrust fine comes a couple of years after Apple was handed an identical EUR 10 million fine in Italy over the iPhone performance throttling scandal. That fine was issued after Apple admitted that it artificially limited the processing power of iPhones carrying old batteries via software updates.


 

Categories:

Mobiel

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Apple

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Italië

Tags:

Regulations, Wireless, Consumer, Handsets

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