Apple Faces €10M Fine in Italy for Misleading iPhone Water Resistance Marketing
Italy’s competition authority (AGCM) has slapped Apple with a €10 million fine for what it deems “misleading” and “aggressive” commercial practices related to iPhone water resistance claims. The penalty stems from an investigation into Apple’s marketing and warranty policies for iPhone models ranging from the iPhone 8 to the iPhone 11, sold since October 2017.
The Core of the Controversy
The AGCM found two key violations of Italy’s consumer code:
- Misleading Claims: Apple marketed iPhones as “water resistant” without adequately clarifying the limitations of this feature in its advertisements.
- Warranty Loophole: The company’s warranty explicitly excludes liquid damage coverage, despite heavily promoting water resistance as a key selling point.
“Apple’s marketing tricked consumers into believing the devices were impermeable to water, rather than merely water resistant,” stated the AGCM in its October decision, made public via Reuters.
Real-World Consumer Impact
The investigation uncovered several troubling cases:
- An iPhone user denied coverage after a “short dive” in seawater
- A customer refused service for washing their device under a tap (deemed “improper use”)
- A one-month-old iPhone XR rendered unusable after water contact, with Apple offering only a subsidized replacement
- An iPhone XS owner denied coverage despite claiming no water exposure, with no way to prove otherwise
Apple uses liquid contact indicators (LCIs) that change color when exposed to moisture, which repair technicians check during service assessments.
Broader Context of Apple’s Regulatory Challenges
This isn’t Apple’s first run-in with Italian regulators:
- In 2018, Apple and Samsung were fined €15M for device slowdowns (TechCrunch)
- France imposed a $27M fine in February 2020 for throttling older iPhones (TechCrunch)
Apple’s European regulatory challenges extend beyond consumer protection:
- Faced a record $1.2B French fine in March 2020 for alleged reseller cartel practices
- Paid €500M in back taxes to France in 2019
- Currently contesting a €15B EU “state aid” case regarding Irish tax arrangements
What’s Next for Apple?
The tech giant has 60 days to appeal the Italian fine, which represents less than half of its €26.9M operating profit in Italy during 2018-2019. As digital taxation remains a hot-button issue in the EU, Apple continues to navigate an increasingly complex regulatory landscape across the continent.
TechCrunch has reached out to Apple for comment on the AGCM’s findings.
