Korean court holds Apple liable for 'batterygate' controversy in world first ruling

Tech

Published: 06 Dec. 2023, 18:11

Korean court holds Apple liable for 'batterygate' controversy in world first ruling

An Apple logo is seen at an Apple Store in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

A Seoul court partially accepted a damages claim filed by Korean iPhone users for purposely slowing down the performance of their phones in a controversy known as “batterygate,” marking one of the first payout decisions outside of the United States.

The court explained that Apple breached the notice obligation and caused emotional distress for its consumers as it failed to inform iPhone users of the fact that an update of the iOS operating system could entail the underperformance of a phone’s battery.

Hannuri, a Seoul-based legal representative of the class action suit, said that it is the first case in a court formally recognizing Apple’s responsibility linked with the batterygate scandal.

“Ever since the scandal broke in December 2017, multiple damage claim suits erupted,” the law firm said in a statement Wednesday.

“But it seems that the result marks the world’s first case where a court formally holds Apple liable for the batterygate, although the payout decisions made in the U.S. came from settlements,” it said.

The Korean high court cited “a significant discrepancy between Apple and its consumers over the information about the impact of the software update,” but did not recognize the claim that the update led to the material damage of the devices.

If Apple heeds the ruling released by the Seoul High Court on Wednesday, the smartphone maker will pay seven customers a combined 490,000 won ($373) — 70,000 won for each. The plaintiffs sought 200,000 won each.

As negligible as the payout might seem, future plaintiffs could use the result as a reference point against the U.S. tech giant.

Apple remains tight-lipped about whether it will make an appeal or settle, only stating some vague principles.

“We have never — and would never — do anything to intentionally shorten the life of any Apple product, or degrade the user experience to drive customer upgrades,” Apple Korea said in a statement.

“Our goal has always been to create products that our customers love and making iPhones last as long as possible is an important part of that,” it said.

The Korean court reversed the previous ruling that invalidated the damage claim filed by 63,767 iPhone users in 2018, but most of them refrained from proceeding with the appeal except for the seven consumer plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs of the initial suit are not subject to the possible compensation.

The slowdown controversy affected people using iPhones in the 6, 6S and 7 families.

Some users suspected that Apple purposely throttled the devices and curbed battery performance to compel users to buy new ones while the manufacturer said that it was intended to increase the safety of the devices.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]