An investigation was opened in December 2022 for misleading commercial practices and planned obsolescence after a complaint filed by the French association Halte à l’obsolescence programmed (HOP) against the American smartphone giant Apple, the Paris prosecutor’s office said on Monday 15 may.
The investigations into this complaint denouncing a faulty repairability of the apple devices were entrusted to the national investigation service of the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF), according to the prosecution, which confirmed a announcement of the association.
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In a press release, the latter said she hoped that this investigation would allow “to sanction and demonstrate the criminal nature of serialization practices” of the American group.
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These practices consist “to associate the serial numbers of spare parts with that of a smartphone, in particular via microchips, giving the manufacturer the possibility of restricting repairs for non-approved repairers or of degrading a smartphone repaired with “generic” parts ” from a distance “according to HOP.
“Guaranteeing the right to repairability”
“On the occasion of the visit to Paris of Tim Cook, the general manager of Apple in a month for the VivaTech event, HOP calls on the smartphone manufacturer to guarantee the right to the repairability of its devices in a logic of sincere circular economy »writes the association.
Apple France could not immediately be reached by AFP for comment.
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In February 2020, Apple had agreed to pay a fine of 25 million euros in France as part of a criminal transaction, to end prosecution for deceptive commercial practices.
An investigation was opened in 2018, after a previous complaint from HOP, which then denounced facts of premature and voluntary aging of old iPhones, the giant having admitted that it was voluntarily restricting the performance of old models after a certain time, but in the goal according to him “to extend their lifespan”.
