After the US and Israel, a third country has condemned Apple for the issue of planned obsolescence, or the slowdown of the operating systems of the iPhone models 6, 6S and 7. This is France, which according to the law on energy transition of 2015, has inflicted on the Cupertino house, through an Antitrust decision prompted by an appeal by the HOP association (established precisely to stem the phenomenon, the acronym stands for "Halte à l'Obsolescence Programmée"), a fine of 25 million euros. Crumbs, for a colossus like Apple, but a further sign of a battle that is starting to leave less and less escape for the big tech companies. In addition to the tax issue, the practice of planned obsolescence has recently come under fire, designed to encourage rapid device turnover and therefore to increase sales in the medium to short term.
This habit, in addition to being ethically incorrect towards consumers, is actually contrary to the law in France, for ecological reasons: producing smartphones is polluting and encouraging them to buy many over the years goes in the opposite direction with respect to environmental protection. Unlike other countries, France made it a crime: the law provides for a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a fine of 300.000 euros, as well as 5% of the offending company's annual turnover. The Paris Public Prosecutor's Office therefore opened the two-year investigation, entrusting it to the Direction générale de la Concurrence (the French Antitrust): the long investigation, conducted by questioning over 15.000 consumers, led to the sanction. Economically insignificant for a giant like Apple, but significant in any case.
