Apple is accused in France Of planning the obsolescence of its smartphonesconsequently limiting the possibility of repair. The complaint filed by the Halt Planned Obsolescence (HOP) association describes the alleged practice of “associate the serial numbers of spare parts with those of the iPhone, also via microchip, giving the manufacturer the possibility to limit repairs by unauthorized repairers or to remotely degrade a smartphone repaired with generic parts“. HOP’s will is to “guarantee the right to repair devices according to the logic of the real circular economy“.
The Cupertino company has been under investigation in France for planned obsolescence for some time now, in 2020 a fine of 25 million euros was imposed by the Direction générale de la Concurrence, de la Consommation et de la Répression des fraudes (DGCCRF). On the other hand, the fine imposed on Apple by the Italian Antitrust amounts to 10 million. Finally, 113 are the millions paid by the Californian company in the United States for the same reason.
The new investigation conducted by the French regulators started in December 2022. The indictment explicitly speaks of violation of the right to reparation and of limiting the development of the refurbished smartphone market. The launch of Apple Self Service Repair in 2021 was met with particular satisfaction: the following year it also arrived in Europe, allowing users to buy original spare parts and tools to repair some products of the brand in complete autonomy. However, the association does not approve of the fact that users are forced to enter the serial number of the iPhone to be repaired, serial number that must match that of the returned part to obtain credit from Apple.
