Major setback for Apple ahead of iPhone 14 launch; iPhone 12 banned
Prior to the launch of iPhone 14, Apple has been banned from selling iPhone 12 and other recent iPhones without a charger in Brazil and has been fined more than $2 million.
Apple has received a huge setback ahead of the iPhone 14 launch today. The company is banned from selling iPhones without a charger in Brazil and has been fined more than $2 million for the matter, the Brazilian government said Tuesday, after accusing the US tech giant of “discriminatory practices”. The affected iPhones are iPhone 12. However, the text of the notification also refers to iPhone 13.
In an official statement, Brazilian authorities have ordered “the immediate suspension of the distribution of iPhone smartphones, regardless of model or generation, that are not accompanied by a battery charger”.
The Department of Justice and Public Security has ordered the California company to pay a 12.28 million reais (nearly $2.4 million) fine.
The measure by the Department of Consumer Protection and Defense effectively bans the sale of all iPhone 12 and 13 models.
Apple has been under investigation in Brazil since December for “sale of an incomplete product,” “consumer discrimination” and “transfer of responsibility to third parties” by offering iPhone 12s and later versions without wall outlet chargers. an official statement.
The company has previously been fined by Brazilian state authorities, but “has not taken any steps to minimize the damage and has so far continued to sell mobile devices without chargers,” the statement said.
According to Brazilian authorities, Apple claims that the decision to exclude chargers from iPhone sales stems from an “environmental obligation”.
But the ministry determined that “there is no effective demonstration of environmental protection on Brazilian soil as a result” of Apple’s policies, and accused the company of “deliberate discriminatory practices against consumers”.
“There is no justification for an operation aimed at reducing CO2 emissions leading to the introduction on the consumer market of a product whose use depends on the purchase of another (product) also by the company on the being put on the market,” the official message added.
