A report last week said that an Italian antitrust body is investigating both Apple and Samsung for planned obsolescence. That’s the type of investigation Apple will have to face in various other countries thanks to its policy of slowing down older iPhone models without telling users.
While Apple was caught red handed and had no choice but to admit what it was doing, Samsung has denied the planned obsolescence allegations. The South Korean company has gone on record once again in stating that it doesn’t slow down its old smartphones.
Since confirming that iPhones with chemically aged batteries may be slowed down to prevent unexpected shutdowns, Apple has been hit with numerous class action suits and probes into the matter in the US and around the world. Samsung and other companies went on record soon after the initial discovery to tell the world they do not slow down their smartphones.
According to Nikkei, Samsung on Friday told the press that it doesn’t use software updates to slow down its phones or other devices, as the Italian antitrust authority alleges, and it said it will cooperate with the investigation.
Samsung does not provide the software updates to reduce the product performance over the life cycle of the device. We will fully cooperate with Italian Authority for Market and Competition’s investigation in Italy to clarify the facts.
The antitrust authority in Italy did not provide any details about Samsung’s alleged planned obsolescence scheme. It’s unclear what devices are supposedly slowed down via software updates.
This is the first time Samsung has been accused of altering the performance of its devices to convince buyers to upgrade to a newer model. That’s usually the conspiracy theory reserved for Apple’s iPhone.
