Antitrust Trial Sees Google CEO’s Confrontation with Microsoft
In London, Apple Inc. faced a significant setback on Wednesday as it failed to block a massive lawsuit potentially worth up to $2 billion. This lawsuit accuses the tech giant of concealing defective batteries in millions of iPhones.
The lawsuit was initiated by British consumer advocate Justin Gutmann, representing approximately 24 million iPhone users in the United Kingdom.
Gutmann is seeking damages from Apple on their behalf, totaling up to £1.6 billion (approximately $1.9 billion), along with interest. The midpoint of the claim is estimated at £853 million.
Gutmann’s legal team argued that Apple had hidden battery issues in certain phone models by implementing “throttling” through software updates and by introducing a power management tool that limited device performance.
Apple has denied most of the allegations, with the exception of acknowledging a minor problem with iPhone 6s batteries, which it replaced free of charge.
Apple characterized the lawsuit as “baseless” and strongly refuted the claim that iPhones had defective batteries, except for a small number of iPhone 6s models for which it provided free battery replacements.
The company attempted to have the case dismissed, but the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruled on Wednesday that Gutmann’s case could proceed, although it noted “a lack of clarity and specificity” that needed to be addressed before any trial.
Furthermore, the CAT suggested that Gutmann might need to revise his litigation funding arrangements, following a landmark Supreme Court ruling in July that declared many such agreements unlawful. In response to the ruling, Gutmann stated, “This is a significant step toward consumer justice.”
An Apple spokesperson reiterated a prior statement, emphasizing that “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.”
The certification of Gutmann’s case adds to the growing number of high-value mass lawsuits currently underway in London. This follows a July decision that allowed claims against major banks for alleged foreign exchange rigging to proceed.
