November 22, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] A Korean law firm representing more than 60,000 consumers filed a lawsuit against US tech giant Apple and its local branch for intentionally slowing down older iPhones.

Hannuri Law said it filed the suit at the Seoul Central District Court on behalf of 63,767 iPhone users. It marked the largest number of participants for a single lawsuit.

Local consumers have been demanding compensation from Apple after the company acknowledged last year that its operating software updates intentionally slowed down the operating speed of older iPhone models.

While Apple claimed that the measure was necessary to prevent devices from suddenly shutting down, local consumers claim that the company should still have notified users of the matter before the decision was taken.

Earlier this month, the Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty also filed a similar suit with 401 people, which followed a similar suit filed in January involving 122 users.

The law firm said while Apple was aware that the speed of iPhones slowed down through the problematic iOS updates, it did not notify users to hide the flaws in the battery, to prevent consumers from seeking other options and to promote sales of iPhones.

Hannuri said Apple should pay 12.7 billion won (US$11.90 million) in compensation, or 200,000 won to each of its clients.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)