'iPhone Intentional Performance Throttling' Class Action, Court Rules "Apple Not Liable for Compensation"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Consumers filed a lawsuit seeking damages, claiming that Apple deliberately degraded the performance of older iPhone models by updating their software, but the court did not accept the claim.

An Apple product reseller shop in Seoul. [Photo by Yonhap News]

On the morning of the 2nd, the Civil Division 31 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Jisuk) ruled against the plaintiffs in the first trial of a 12.7 billion KRW damages lawsuit filed by about 9,800 iPhone users, including Mr. Kim, against Apple headquarters and Apple Korea. The court stated, "All claims of the plaintiffs are dismissed. The plaintiffs shall bear the litigation costs."

In the second half of 2017, Apple applied software updates to iPhone 6 and 7 models, adding a 'performance management' feature that, in some cases, reduced performance.

The consumers protested, saying, "Isn't this update intentionally degrading performance to sell more new iPhones?" However, Apple explained, "This is to prevent the device from shutting down when the battery ages." In relation to this, class action lawsuits against Apple were filed consecutively in 2018 and 2019, and the court consolidated and reviewed them.

The consumers also filed criminal charges against Apple CEO Tim Cook and Apple Korea CEO Daniel Dischico for violating the Information and Communications Network Act, but the investigative authorities judged that "it is difficult to see that Apple distributed a program that could interfere with the operation of the information and communication system without justifiable reasons."

Meanwhile, similar class action lawsuits have been filed in various countries overseas, including the United States, Israel, France, and Canada. Last year in the UK, consumer rights activists filed a damages lawsuit against Apple, demanding payment of up to 768 million pounds (approximately 1.2156 trillion KRW) to about 25 million consumers in the UK.

There are also countries where liability for damages was recognized. Apple, which faced a class action lawsuit in the United States, agreed in March 2020 to pay 25 dollars (about 29,800 KRW) per user of older iPhones, totaling 500 million dollars (650 billion KRW). In Chile, each user participating in the lawsuit also received compensation of 50 dollars (about 56,000 KRW).