Italian antitrust watchdog fines Apple, Samsung for deliberately slowing down phones through software updates

The world's two largest smartphone manufacturers, Apple and Samsung Electronics, have been fined millions of dollars by Italy's antitrust authorities. They claim the tech giants provided consumers with operating system updates that were not optimized for some models. Kim Hyo-sun reports. Antitrust authorities in Italy have fined Samsung and Apple around five-point-seven million U.S. dollars and 11-point-four million dollars, respectively, for deliberately slowing down their smartphones. The European country's watchdog said the two companies used software updates that significantly reduced performance,... hence leaving consumers with little choice but to purchase new phones. It explained that Samsung strongly encouraged its customers to use Android operating system updates that were not optimized for its Galaxy 4, which was released in 2014. It was also found that Samsung did not notify its users of the serious malfunctions that such an update could cause. According to the authorities,... Apple also encouraged consumers to use updates that were not optimized for specific models,... nor did it provide adequate information about the impact of the new software update. Samsung says it's disappointed with the decision,... adding it's preparing to appeal,... highlighting that all updates were intended to enable customers to have the best experience possible.Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News.