Italy is drawing Samsung into Apple's battery battles

Samsung is trying to move past last year’s explosive Galaxy Note 7 launch with a successor sporting a dual-lens camera, animated messages, expanded note-taking and lower battery capacity. (Richard Drew/AP)

Italian officials said Thursday they are investigating whether Apple and Samsung intentionally slowed down their older products worse to sell new ones.

This is the first time Samsung has faced this accusation.

The investigation lends weight to a suspicion harbored by many smartphone owners for years — that old gadgets seem to slow down right as new ones come out. That smoldering suspicion was fanned into flames after Apple, in December, confirmed it has slowed down iPhones with older batteries to preserve their performance.

Samsung, on Friday, said in a statement it does not slow down its phones.

“Samsung does not provide the software updates to reduce the product performance over the life cycle of the device. We will fully cooperate with Italian Authority for Market and Competition’s investigation in Italy to clarify the facts,” the company said.

Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM) looks at antitrust concerns and consumer protection issues.

Apple declined to comment on the investigation. The company has repeatedly said it did not slow down older phones for the purpose of selling new ones. In December, it did apologize for not telling consumers its software will slow down some iPhones if it senses batteries have degraded. Slowing down the performance, Apple said, will prevent the phones from shutting down unexpectedly.

[Apple will offer discounts on replacement batteries, following lawsuits over iPhone slowdowns]

Apple started offering discounted battery replacements in January to consumers for $29. That offer is good through 2018 and has prompted long lines and waiting times for customers across the country. and said earlier this week an update will have an option to turn off the phone-slowing software.

Cook repeated that assertion in an interview with ABC News this week, saying Apple’s only motivation was to ensure people’s phones were working properly.

In addition to the Italian investigation, Apple is facing more than a dozen consumer lawsuits in the United States and elsewhere. The iPhone maker is also facing a criminal suit in France where “planned obsolescence” — hurting existing products to make way for new ones — is illegal. A South Korean consumer advocate group has also filed a complaint to the government, but South Korean officials haven't said whether they will launch an investigation.

A statement posted on AGCM's website said the inquiry was prompted by customer reports and its preliminary research, which indicates Apple and Samsung have exploited problems with their phones’ components to reduce their performance and encourage people to buy new devices, the agency said. It did not specify which models it was looking into.

The agency said it would investigate whether the two companies violated parts of the Italian consumer code that prohibit them from misrepresenting their actions and keeping information from consumers. The AGCM statement did not specifically mention iPhone batteries, or offer detail on why it is also looking into Samsung. It also did not say what penalties the companies may face if the agency decides they have broken the law.

AGCM could not immediately be reached for comment.

The agency has previously investigated both companies. It tangled with Apple in 2012 over its AppleCare warranty program, alleging Apple was not making it clear customers were paying for perks beyond a two-year warranty. A two-year warranty is already guaranteed under Italian law. Apple appealed the decision, but lost and had to pay a fine of roughly $1.2 million and place new notices on its promotional materials.

AGCM also fined Samsung in 2017 for not being clear about an advertising promotion; Samsung Electronics Italy settled and paid a €3 million fine.

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