Brazil’s consumer protection agency has fined Apple $2 million USD (about $2.5 million CAD) for not including chargers within iPhone 12 boxes.
The regulator says the fine is “for misleading advertising, selling a device without the charger and unfair terms.”
“Apple needs to understand that in Brazil there are solid consumer protection laws and institutions. It needs to respect these laws and these institutions,” the regulator’s executive director said in a statement, as reported by 9to5Mac.
The regulator notes that it asked Apple if the tech giant planned to reduce the price of the iPhone 12 series since the boxes don’t include chargers, and did not receive a reply.
In October 2020, Apple announced that its iPhone 12 series would not include chargers in their boxes and cited environmental concerns. The tech giant had stated that this decision would reduce the raw materials needed for each sale and would also reduce the size of the boxes.
It’s worth noting that environmental experts have stated that the change will make a minimal impact on the environment.
Apple hasn’t responded to inquiries about the fine, but the tech giant has the choice to appeal the fine. Regardless, the fine won’t be much of a problem for Apple, as it brought in $111.4 billion USD (roughly $142 billion CAD) in revenue in Q1 2021.
Source: 9to5Mac
