Apple Inc has been barred from selling iPhones without a charger in Brazil and fined more than US$2 million over the issue, the Brazilian government said on Tuesday, after accusing the US tech giant of “discriminatory practices.”
In an official notice, Brazilian authorities ordered “the immediate suspension of the distribution of iPhone brand smartphones, regardless of model or generation, that are not accompanied by a battery charger.”
The Brazilian Ministry of Justice and Public Security ordered the California company to pay a fine of 12.28 million reais (nearly US$2.4 million).
Photo: Bloomberg
The measure from the Brazilian Department of Consumer Protection and Defense effectively prohibits the sale of all iPhone 12 and 13 models.
Apple has been under investigation in Brazil since December last year for “the sale of an incomplete product,” “discrimination against the consumer” and “the transfer of responsibility to third parties” by offering iPhone 12s and newer versions without chargers for power outlets, an official statement said.
The company has faced fines from Brazilian state agencies before, but “did not take any measures to minimize the harm and until now continued to sell the cellular devices without chargers,” the statement said.
Brazilian authorities said that Apple alleges that the decision to exclude chargers from iPhone sales comes from an “environmental commitment.”
However, the ministry determined “there is no effective demonstration of environmental protection on Brazilian soil as a consequence” of Apple’s policy, and accused the company of “deliberate discriminatory practices against consumers.”
“There is no justification for an operation which, in aiming to reduce carbon emissions, leads to the introduction into the consumer market of a product whose use depends on the acquisition of another [product] which is also marketed by the company,” the official notice added.
Apple plans to appeal the ban by Brazil, saying the company has helped reduce environmental waste by not including the accessory with new devices.
“At Apple, we consider our impact on people and the planet in everything we do,” the company said in an e-mailed statement. “Power adapters represented our largest use of zinc and plastic and eliminating them from the box helped cut over 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions — equivalent to removing 500,000 cars from the road per year.”
Apple said it would continue working with Brazil’s consumer protection agency to “address their concerns and plan to appeal this decision.”
“We’ve already won a number of court decisions in Brazil on this topic and are confident our customers are aware of the various options to charge and connect their devices,” the company said.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg
DAMAGE REPORT: Global central banks are assessing war-driven inflation risks as the law of unintended consequences careens around the world, spiking oil prices Central banks from Washington to London and from Jakarta to Taipei are about to make their first assessments of economic damage after more than two weeks of conflict between the US and Iran. Decisions this week encompassing every member of the G7 and eight of the world’s 10 most-traded currency jurisdictions are likely to confirm to investors that the specter of a new inflation shock is already worrying enough to prompt heightened caution. The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to do exactly what everyone anticipated weeks ahead of its March 17-18 policy gathering: hold rates steady. The narrative surrounding that
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) share of the global foundry market rose to almost 70 percent last year amid booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI), market information advisory firm TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said on Thursday. The contract chipmaker posted US$122.54 billion in revenue, up 36.1 percent from a year earlier, accounting for 69.9 percent of the global market, TrendForce said. Its share was up from 64.4 percent in 2024, it said. TSMC’s closest rival, Samsung Electronics, was a distant second, posting US$12.63 billion in sales, down 3.9 percent from a year earlier, for a 7.2 percent share of the global market. In the
At a massive shipyard in North Vancouver, Canadian workers grind metal beams for a powerful new icebreaker crucial to cementing the country’s presence in the increasingly contested arctic. Icebreakers are specialized, expensive vessels able to navigate in the frozen far north. And “this is the crown jewel,” said Eddie Schehr, vice president of production at the Seaspan shipyard. For Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who heads to Norway next Friday to observe arctic defense drills involving troops from 14 NATO states, Canada’s extreme north has emerged as a strategic priority. “Canada is and forever will be an Arctic nation,” he said ahead of
Chinese entrepreneur Frank Gao used to spend long hours running his social media accounts but now outsources the chore to artificial intelligence (AI) agent tool OpenClaw, which is taking China by storm despite official warnings over cybersecurity. OpenClaw, created in November by an Austrian coder, differs from bots such as ChatGPT because it can execute real-life tasks such as sending e-mails, organizing files or even booking flight tickets. “Since January, I’ve spent hours on the lobster every day,” Gao said in an interview, referring to OpenClaw’s red crustacean mascot. “We’re family.” After downloading OpenClaw, users connect it to artificial intelligence models of their
RSS