“Apple Inc was fined A$2.25 million ($2.29 million) by an Australian court on Thursday for misleading advertising of its latest iPad,” Miranda Maxwell reports for Reuters.
“The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took legal action against Apple in March, after the computer and gadgets maker rolled out the first wave of new iPad tablets in the Australian market,” Maxwell reports. “The competition watchdog accused Apple of misleading customers with the description of its new iPad, which said it was compatible with a 4G mobile data network when it was not.”
MacDailyNews Take: Actually, Ms. Maxwell, from the very beginning, Apple said it was NOT compatible with Australia’s “4G” on their website:
4G LTE is supported only on the AT&T network in the US, and on Bell, Rogers and Telus networks in Canada. Data plans are sold separately. See your carrier for details. – Apple.com
“4G” has devolved uncontrollably into a meaningless marketing term. The problem was Apple calling their iPad, “iPad Wi-Fi + 4G,” which insinuated that it would work with “4G” networks in many countries where it would not, due to incompatible networks.
Regardless, Apple use of “4G” was an glaringly amateurish mistake that never should have been made as it would obviously invite issues. Apple has since changed the name to the much more appropriate, if somewhat banal, “iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular.”
Also, by the time you finished the first sentence of Maxwell’s report above, Apple made six times the amount of the fine, so that’s hardly a deterrent. At these fine levels, if they so desired, Apple could claim that their next iPhone offers Australians unaided levitation.
Maxwell reports, “Apple ‘engaged in conduct that was liable to mislead the public,’ it said… Apple has already promised to email all buyers of its new iPad in Australia to offer them a refund and agreed to post warnings that its new iPad ‘is not compatible with current Australian 4G LTE networks and WiMAX networks.’ Telstra Corp’s network operates on a different frequency to the 4G on Apple’s new iPad.”
Read more in the full article here.