Apple Slapped With a $19 Million Fine in Brazil For Not Selling iPhones With a Charger (engadget.com) 60
Apple keeps on losing court battles in Brazil over its decision to stop shipping iPhones with a charger. From a report: The Sao Paulo state court has ruled against the tech giant and slapped it with a 100 million real ($19 million) fine in a lawsuit filed by the Brazilian Consumers' Association, a group of borrowers, consumers and taxpayers. In addition, the court has ordered Apple to supply all customers in Brazil who purchased the iPhone 12 or 13 over the past couple of years with a charger, as well as to start including them with all new purchases. Apple, as you'd expect, told the news organization that it will appeal the decision. According to Barron's, the judge in charge of the case called the non-inclusion of chargers in phone purchases an "abusive practice" that "requires consumers to purchase a second product in order for the first to work." Apple has been at odds with Brazilian authorities over the issue for a while now. In 2021, Sao Paulo consumer protection agency Procon-SP fined Apple around $2 million for removing the power adapter from the iPhone 12, telling the company that it was in violation of Brazil's Consumer Defense Code.
Is that different from (Score:1)
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Tim can pay that out of his pocket change (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously, that's not going to change Apple's behavior. It would probably cost more in packaging changes and shipping to add a charging adapter for Brazil so they'll just pay the fine.
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It's not just a fine. It's a threat. If Apple doesn't change its ways, not only will bigger fines be on the way, so will contempt of court or whatever the equivalent is under Brazilian law.
It's an interesting ruling. I think the UK used to have laws stating that if some additional purchase was required to use the item it must clearly be stated on the box. "Batteries not included" was pretty common. Doesn't seem to be an issue with phones that don't come with chargers.
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At what point do we admit we don't want or need an extra USB charger? This is a nothing burger.
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Re: Tim can pay that out of his pocket change (Score:2)
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What makes you think the "free charger" bundled in will charge your phone at the faster rate?
The USB charger they ship is the slowest 5W charger available - you can get faster wireless chargers pretty much standard now.
I mean, I suppose Apple could easily just offer the free slow charger to everyone who wants it as an optoin, but ch
Re: Tim can pay that out of his pocket change (Score:2)
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So they'll spend a few hundred dollars printing stickers and shipping the stickers to every Apple reseller in Brazil. The stickers will say "charging block not included" and they'll slap them onto the side of the box and be done with it.
And then they'll laugh all the way to the bank at their $17M fine and few hundred dollars of stickers, being as they make $17m about every 26.5 minutes according to their 2022Q3 results ($83B revenue / 90 days / 24 hours / 60 minutes = $640,432.10 booked every minute)
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What's the problem with that? The fine worked, they complied with the law.
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There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Unless you are one of these people that think buying a phone should include your nth USB-C charging block included, then you're still going to grouse and whine about wasteful consumption.
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Or they come back and agree to drop the price to $20 bucks in Brazil so consumers can buy a charger. I understand them not wanting to include chargers because let's face it, we probably have two dozen in the kitchen junk drawer already.
Re: My, aren't you plural (Score:2)
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Nah, that's far more of a hit to the bottom line than printing a sticker that says "charger not included" and having your Brazilian reseller slap it on the side of the box. That costs a few cents in comparison to the cost of a price reduction or charger voucher. And it also has the virtue of complying with modern corporate ethos: externalize every problem onto the consumer you can, while maintaining brand image with the consumer that has them justifying your behavior for you.
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So they'll pay the fine with about 27 minutes of revenue (really, that's what we're talking about when they had $83B in revenue last quarter) and then send every authorized reseller stickers that say "charger not included" to stick on the boxes. Future shipments to Brazil will have the sticker on the box already.
And then they sit back, and watch the billions continue to pour in with nothing actually changed or solved except for a sticker printing company getting a few thousand bucks from Apple.
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Seriously, that's not going to change Apple's behavior. It would probably cost more in packaging changes and shipping to add a charging adapter for Brazil so they'll just pay the fine.
The irony is over in the EU, selling phone without chargers is what they are targeting.
Maybe Apple, and other manufacturers, need to include the charger by default, with a discount if you choose not to include the charger in the purchase?
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Seriously, that's not going to change Apple's behavior.
Why do people always assume that a company can pay a fine and keep doing what they are doing without repercussions. Of course companies re-evaluate behaviour. Courts in most countries do not look favourably on re-offenders. This is the *FIRST* fine unless Apple falls inline with Brazil's fucking stupid law.
Re: Tim can pay that out of his pocket change (Score:2)
They should just hand out those cheap ass $1 chargers you get from gas stations.
Re: Tim can pay that out of his pocket change (Score:2)
Cite any case where a home burned down and someone died as a result of a cheap gas station phone charger.
Change the Paradigm (Score:2)
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I've been getting about 5 years out of iPhones. When I feel like I need a new one, I buy a refurbished one and not the latest model. I do not want to pay the 'latest and greatest' tax.
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They should just change the iPhone to an annual subscription and be done with the whole charade of "owning" the device.
That's already done here in Brazil. Most phone companies offer iPhone subscriptions that allow you to replace yours every two years. In practice it means you're purchasing an iPhone in 24 monthly installments, but they're so absurdly expensive here due to our close to 100% duty tax on tech imports plus much lower income compared to the US, that this is the only way anyone in the lower to average middle classe can actually afford one.
(In purchasing power terms, an iPhone here weight about 10 times as much as
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They should just change the iPhone to an annual subscription and be done with the whole charade of "owning" the device.
Why? My dad's 5 year old iPhone still works fine and he has no desire to upgrade. What is it about you that makes you desperate to have the latest Shiny Thing (tm) that would make you pay a subscription for it?
Also where do you live that doesn't offer you a phone plan with a new phone every 2 years. Isn't that a subscription service you desire?
Bravo to Brazil (Score:1, Troll)
I'm glad that somebody finally called Apple out on their bullshit excuse that they removed the charger for "environmental reasons".
It's pretty obvious that they removed the charger to cut costs, and to be able to shrink the package so they should ship more of them at once.
Perhaps I'm just a cynic, but personally I think that the only "green" that Tim Cook cares about is the green stuff in Apple's bank balance.
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One thing is that iPhones are outrageously expensive in the region, and many will buy such products on trips to Miami or maybe Barcelona. While android products are more likely to bought in country generating jobs and taxes.
In reality, Apple should just provide a free charger on requ
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For what it's worth: iPhones are outrageously expensive everywhere.
Re: Bravo to Brazil (Score:1)
Mine cost about 3 days of pay. Seems pretty cheap for a device I will have for about 1500 days.
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In South America, it's around 3 months of pay (average income). iphones are considered status symbols.
The market is so tiny, in fact, that here are also no official apple stores in south america, only authorized resellers in SOME countries, and random resellers in other countries.
Re: Bravo to Brazil (Score:2)
Doesn't support the previous poster's comment that iPhones are outrageously expensive everywhere.
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I'm putting things in perspective, I'm not trying to play petty "technically, I'm right" games.
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Yes, you are a cynic.
I am so happy to be down to only a dozen or so single-port chargers in the bottom of my spares drawer. While 10 years ago, maybe even 5, it was necessary to include the chargers, today they are really a waste.
Sure, Apple benefits from not having the chargers included, but they don't benefit in the context of additional sales of chargers in any meaningful way.
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While 10 years ago, maybe even 5, it was necessary to include the chargers, today they are really a waste.
So, you don't think anyone in the past 10 years, maybe even 5, has purchased their first iPhone and doesn't have a dozen or so compatible chargers and cables in a junk drawer?
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I think it is likely some percentage over 10% of purchasers 5-10 years ago in Brazil would have wanted an Apple charger with their purchase. The system needs to be geared towards the lowest common denominator, or at least the 5th-10th percentile. Do I think that more than 10% of the chargers would not be e-waste today... no.
In contrast to today, I doubt less than 0.5% of chargers would not quickly become e-waste. Even if you gave away a "premium" charger it is likely well under 10%.
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I think it is likely some percentage over 10% of purchasers 5-10 years ago in Brazil would have wanted an Apple charger with their purchase. The system needs to be geared towards the lowest common denominator, or at least the 5th-10th percentile. Do I think that more than 10% of the chargers would not be e-waste today... no.
In contrast to today, I doubt less than 0.5% of chargers would not quickly become e-waste. Even if you gave away a "premium" charger it is likely well under 10%.
Nice guesswork. Mught even be close to being true for much of the world. But Brazil? Apple’s low cost device strategy is increasing sales in international markets, and Brazil topped the list with 123% year-over-year iPhone growth. source [flurry.com]
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If Apple's motive to get rid of the chargers was truly environmentalist in nature, they would give you the option to pick up an Apple USB charger free of charge (just pay additional shipping, perhaps?) when you purchase an iPhone from them.
What they do instead is try to charge $19 for a charger, or $39 if you want to upgrade to the Magsafe model. They're just taking a page from used car salesmen, and trying to upsell you on additional stuff during the purchase process.
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It's pretty obvious that they removed the charger to cut costs, and to be able to shrink the package so they should ship more of them at once.
Why can't it be both? Not including a charger means less plastics and metals used to manufacture morsels to put in the box, as well as less materials needed for the box and packing to make sure nothing gets broken during shipment. The smaller box also means more products can be loaded into each shipping container or aircraft bringing these things from the factory to their final destination, which means less fuel being burned per unit, and less airplanes / containers being shipped for the same size orders.
Re: Bravo to Brazil (Score:2)
What they should do (Score:2)
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What we should do is get rid of fucking brain dead laws that pretend forcing product bundling is some form of "consumer protection" and just let people do their thing. You can shuffle the deck chairs and re-arrange the website how you want. Idiots are still idiots. At least with the rest of the world's approach idiots don't generate waste for their idiocy.
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Slap? (Score:2)
More like a love tap.
What about selling computers without keyboards? (Score:2)
Transitions can always be messy and confusing, but there is a time for change. When cell phones first came out no one had chargers, so it was necessary to include one. Now most people buying a cell phone are getitng one to replace an old one, which usually used the same type of charger. There is no need to include a charger with every phone purchase. It helps reduce cost as well as electronic waste, which is what the EU market is mandating.
Back in the day when you bought a desktop computer it was expecte
Sell as a bundle? (Score:5, Insightful)
If the iPhone costs $X in Brazil and the charger costs $Y, in Brazil only sell them as a bundle for $(X+Y). Then have a program where an unopened charger can be returned for $Y in store credit. Publicize how eco-friendly your program is by reducing e-waste. Everybody wins.
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I did the math. It's actually ~26.5 minutes of revenue.
($83B revenue / (~90 days in a quarter * 24 hours in a day * 60 minutes per hour) = $640,432.10 / minute
$17M fine / $640,432.10 = 26.545 minutes of revenue to pay the fine.
Which is still obscene.
Too many chargers is a first world problem (Score:1)
The rest of the world doesn't buy a new cell phone every 6 months. I'm in Mexico. A Mexican friend broke her cell phone. She said it was only 6 months old, but it had a micro-usb adapter. I gave her an old phone I had with a broken screen. It needed a USB-C cable. She didn't have any, I had to give her one of those too.
I don't buy a new cell phone every six months. I have a few old USB chargers, but they are all low power. You would probably have a hard time charging it while it's on with the old lo
Strangely, I find myself on Apple's side (Score:2)
Why is forced bundling a good idea exactly? (Score:2)
I live in a pretty rural area and myself and everyone I know likes to be self-sufficient. We all do our own renovations and repairs- and we all have a bunch of tools.
In my case I have 17 Milwaukee cordless tools- a sawzall, circular saw, jig saw, framing nailer, finish nailer, brad nailer, router, sander, work light, vacuum, oscillating tool, tire pump, 1/2" hammer drill, impact driver, 3/8" impact wrench, and 1/2" impact wrench (I'm probably forgetting a couple of others). According to Brazil- every one of
Let Me Fix That Headline (Score:2)
"Apple Suffers Cost of Business for Making Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Brazil"