The Italian Competition Authority (AGCM) has slapped Samsung and Apple with 5 million and 10 million euros respectively ($5.7 million and $11.41 million) fine for the ‘planned obsolescence’ of the smartphones.
According to the Italian anti-trust authority, the tech giants encouraged updating the operating system for their older phones which slowed them down, thus encouraging the purchase of new mobile phones.
In a report, the investigation done by the AGCM showed that ‘Samsung and Apple implemented dishonest commercial practices.’
The updation of operating system triggered major malfunctions leading to a reduced performance in the phones.
Apple Inc. told the owners of iPhone6 to install an operating system designed for iPhone7, which caused problems for the older model’s owners.
Likewise, Samsung notified the Galaxy Note 4 owners to install the latest version of Google’s Android operating system proposed for the more recent Galaxy Note 7, but which rendered the old model sluggish.
In January, the AGCM opened its investigation after customer complaints.
