For several months, several complaints have accumulated against the American giant.
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.
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 an announcement from the association.
“HOP hopes that (this investigation) will make it possible to sanction and demonstrate the criminal nature of the serialization practices questioned by the association”, indicates the association.
Stopping planned obsolescence thus wishes to shed light on the practice of “serialization”, which consists of associating the serial numbers of spare parts with that of a smartphone, making repairs restricted and causing damage to the devices.
25 million euros fine
Apple has notably been accused for several years of limiting the possibilities of repairing its products and thus leading to planned obsolescence. Several users note, for example, malfunctions of their devices after repairing a part “even identical and original” but “not authorized by Apple software”.
The association “Stop the planned obsolescence”, at the origin of several complaints against Apple, had already obtained in 2020 the condemnation of the company to a fine of 25 million euros.
