When introduced the iPhone 12in October 2020, Apple did it with a very particular announcement: all that family of phones, and all of them would come later, they would not including a charger in the box (the headphones would also disappear from the shipment). Apple made the decision, he says, out of environmental concern: If every phone is sold with a charger, and if many of them go unused (because the ones we used with defunct phones still work), there’s a backlog of e-waste that doesn’t have sense. Samsung made the same decision for its most sophisticated line (from the Galaxy S21 onwards; the cheapest equipment comes with a charger) and Xiaomi announced something similaralthough with a more hesitant stance (in some markets it includes the charger, in others it does not; in some models it comes in the box, in others it does not).
The decision was praised and criticized in equal parts: yes, with this decision the boxes are smaller and only those who really need it use a charger, which avoids useless manufacturing; At the same time, this decision enables companies to charge an extra for the sale of the charger alone, without significantly reducing the price of the phone along the way. Other companies have turned that into a competitive advantage: Motorola, for example, includes chargers in all its equipment, and those that are fast-charging.
However, Apple’s decision, worldwide, had a couple of details: in France had to include the headphones (as defined by the law of that country)and in Brazil the consumer defense agency asked the company, two months after the presentation of the phone, to add a charger to the offer. The company did not change its position, so the São Paulo consumer protection directorate, Procon-SP, imposed a $2 million fine a year ago.
One would think that this legal mishap, no matter how small the amount for a company that earned 34 billion dollars in the last quarter, should attract attention, but Apple continues to sell its iPhone 13 without a charger in Brazil. Perhaps the decision of Judge Vanderlei Caires Pinheiro, from the state of Goiás, will make him change his position. as rescue hypertextual, The magistrate accepted the request of lay judge Jairo Borges Barcellos Dos Santos and ordered the company to compensate Josane Cordeiro Santana Linhares, a woman who bought an iPhone in March 2021 and found the charger missing, so he sued the company.
In the ruling of April 12, the judge considers that the charger is a fundamental accessory of the phone (without it, the equipment does not work) so he cannot do without it in the sale; Likewise, he argues that the supposed ecological impact is in doubt when the company continues to manufacture it the same, waiting to sell it separately. And he imposes a fine of 5,000 reais on Apple (just over 1,000 dollars), to compensate the victim.
The ruling may set an important precedent: Apple now faces the possibility of a multitude of similar lawsuits in the country, which in the long run could be much more expensive than including a charger with the sale of equipment.