Australia Judge Agrees to Fine Apple $2.29 Million for Misleading iPad 4G Claims

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Posted June 21, 2012 at 5:24pm by iClarified

An Australian federal court judge has agreed to a proposed fine of $2.29 million against Apple for misleading consumers over the 4G capabilities of the new iPad, reports AllThingsD.

"I have no doubt that given the promotion by Telstra of the superiority of its 4G network, many purchasers will have felt decidedly short-changed, despite the fact that only a very small percentage of them took up the opportunity of a refund, offered by Apple on 28 March 2012 as part of the undertakings given to the Court," Bromberg said in his order. "Beyond that, all that I am able to do on the evidence before me, is recognise that the wide-ranging reach of the conduct is likely to have resulted in many hundreds of thousands of consumers being exposed to Apple's misleading use of the term "4G."

Commenting on the matter, Apple said:

"The new iPad supports many high speed networks around the world, including LTE in the US and Canada and HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA in many countries," according to Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet. "Carriers do not all refer to their high speed networks with the same terminology, therefore we've decided to use "Wi-Fi + Cellular" as a simple term which describes all the high speed networks supported by the new iPad. The advanced wireless features of the new iPad have not changed."

Read More [via AllThingsD]

Australia Judge Agrees to Fine Apple $2.29 Million for Misleading iPad 4G Claims

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qw1987 - June 21, 2012 at 7:51pm

I wonder if this judge talked to any of the folks who didn't seek a refund? "Why should I get a refund? As an Apple fan, I understood that this 4G would not work on the inferior Telstra network. Nevertheless, the new IPad still has significantly faster cellular connections here in Australia compared to the iPad 2. I love it!"

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Kr00 - June 21, 2012 at 9:38pm

It was simple. They broke the consumer law that states you can't advertise an item or a function of that item which does not operate as would be expected, regardless of people knowing the 4G component of the new iPad doesn't work in Australia. It's misleading at best, and deceptive. Apple would have known it would draw critisim from countries where the 4G iPad wouldn't work. They should have just taken the "4G" off the packaging and advertising, as they finally did. if they can't make compatible 4G devices for the countries they wish to sell to, then they fail their customers. A variety of 4G chips exist, so why can't they just make them to suit each bandwidth? I'm with the ACCC on this one.

Noman - June 21, 2012 at 10:38pm

Nobody was deceived. The ACCC just saw a way to make a quick buck. Apple would have won if it went to court. They only settled because it would have cost more to fight the case. That would have been true for the Australian government as well, that it would have cost more to fight the case in court, but it wasn't their money, so why should they care?

Really - June 21, 2012 at 6:54pm

What's australia going to do with 2 million dollars. That's not a whole lotta of money for a country!