Brazil court orders Apple to sell iPhone with chargers for third time

In the context: Apple started the unfortunate trend of leaving the charger out of the box when it announced the iPhone 12 in 2020. Brazil has fought to get the charger back for three generations of iPhones, but has only collected fines that are a drop in the ocean for the world. most valuable company.

Sao Paulo state court transferred ruling against Apple worth 100 million reais ($19 million) on Thursday. For the third time in Brazil, he ruled that Apple violated consumer protection law by selling the iPhone without chargers and ordered the Cupertino company to change its unpopular policy. Apple said it plans to appeal the verdict.

“Obviously, in order to justify the “green initiative,” the defendant imposes on the consumer the mandatory purchase of adapters for chargers that were previously supplied with the product,” the court noted.

Sao Paulo’s consumer protection agency Procon-SP was the first to launch an investigation into Apple’s actions in late 2020. In March 2021, it announced that its investigation had stalled after Apple stopped responding to its requests for information. He fined the company 10.5 million reais ($1.9 million at the time) and ordered the company to put the chargers back in the box for the first time.

Credit: Steve Johnson

“Apple needs to understand that Brazil has strong consumer protection laws and institutions. It must respect these laws and these institutions,” said Procon-SP Executive Director Fernando Capez.

Brazil followed Apple again this year in September. The Ministry of Justice and Security fined the company 12.28 million rand (about $2.34 million) for missing a charger in the box, on the grounds that Apple was selling an incomplete product. He ordered the company to return the chargers a second time. Apple obviously hasn’t done it yet.

Apple defends its position by saying it’s more environmentally friendly. Apple executives said on stage during the iPhone 12 announcement that the move to smaller, lighter packages is predicted to prevent two million tons of carbon from being released into the atmosphere each year. It was also intended to reduce the amount of unused chargers that become electronic waste, but post hoc analysis showed that the impact of the change was likely minimal.

Brazil’s National Secretariat for Consumer Protection (Senacon) has spoken out against Apple’s claims of environmental concerns. It says that Apple can take better steps to protect the environment, such as replacing the Lightning port with USB-C. Brazil announced a proposal to make USB-C mandatory for all phones starting July 1, 2024, earlier this year.

Title: Will Porada