Apple Fined Rs 211 Crore For Secretly Slowing iPhones, Just 0.002% Of Its Profit In Q4 2019

In December 2017, Apple was being suspected of slowing down iPhone performance without informing users. And then immediately after, the Cupertino giant shockingly admitted to slowing down older iPhones for preserving their batteries for longer duration.

Obviously, the secretive move by Apple didn't go down too well, and now two years later, the iPhone maker has been charged with a fine in France for 27 million euro.

Reuters

After its admission in December 2017, Apple obviously felt it had to damage control. People were obviously furious because of Apple's secretive iPhone slowing down firmware updates.

Class action lawsuits followed, of course. Lawsuits filed in California, New York, and Illinois immediately after meant millions of iPhone owners could jump on the bandwagon and demand compensation for being cheated out of their money.

Reuters

One lawsuit, filed last week in San Francisco, claimed the battery¡¯s inability to handle the smartphone processor¡¯s demands over time could be seen as a defect. ¡°Rather than curing the battery defect by providing a free battery replacement for all affected iPhones, Apple sought to mask the battery defect,¡± the lawsuit said.

Therefore, beginning 2018, Apple offered owners of the iPhone 6 and later models Rs 3,900 credit in India ($50 in the US) if they got their battery replaced out of warranty. The money was provided to all those eligible in the form of an electronic funds transfer, or credit on the credit card used to pay for the replacement.

Fine in France

French prosecutors opened an inquiry in January 2018 at the request of the Halt Planned Obsolescence (HOP) association. "iPhone owners were not informed that installing iOS updates (10.2.1 and 11.2) could slow down their devices," the DGCCRF anti-fraud agency said in a statement.

Reuters

"This is a historic victory against scandalous ready-to-rubbish practices, for consumers as well as the environment," HOP co-founders Laetitia Vasseur and Samuel Sauvage said, adding that they will consider filing claims for additional damages for iPhone clients.

Apple said it welcomed the accord with the DGCCRF, which will allow it to avoid a potentially embarrassing public trial.

However, one can't help but wonder at the fine being charged in this case. The penalty charged by French authorities doesn't even amount to a rap on the knuckles, it's so abysmally low compared to Apple's record-breaking last quarter's profit.