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The UK version of “Which?” A consumer rights group and publication are set to sue Apple over what they say is the company's anti-competitive way of forcing users to pay for iCloud storage.
This isn't the first lawsuit against Apple over iCloud storage, and the company's free 5G has certainly made matters worse over the years. Now Which? has announced what it calls a landmark lawsuit over Apple's “predatory pricing” for iCloud.
“We believe Apple’s customers are owed almost £3 billion [$3.8 billion] as a result of the tech giant forcing its iCloud service on customers and cutting off competition from rival services,” Annabel Hoult, Which?’s chief executive, said in a statement. “By bringing this case, Which? is showing big corporations like Apple that they cannot gouge British consumers without consequences.”
The argument is that “iOS has a monopoly” and that Apple has used this “dominance to gain an unfair advantage in adjacent markets, such as cloud storage.” Specifically, Apple is accused of making it difficult to use alternative providers.
Which?, which calls itself a “consumer champion,” says it has lodged a complaint with the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal. She claims that around “40 million Apple customers in the UK who have received iCloud services over the last nine years may be eligible for a payout.”
The reason for the nine-year period is presumably because Apple revised its iCloud storage plans in 2015. Although they have since changed and expanded iCloud storage tiers.
According to Reuters, Apple responded that Which?’s claims were false. “We reject any suggestion that our iCloud practices are anti-competitive and will vigorously defend ourselves against any legal claims to the contrary,” the company said in a statement.
It’s been 13 years since Apple first offered 5GB of free iCloud storage to every user. What might have seemed ample in 2011 has long been considered stingy, especially considering that it’s 5GB per user, not per device.
Apple uses iCloud for syncing, and if Which?’s argument was that 5GB is simply too little, that would be a fair comment. It’s enough that nearly two-thirds of Apple users in the US reportedly pay for extra iCloud storage.
It’s also true that using alternative providers like Google adds at least a few setup steps. Apple has made iCloud the easiest to use with its devices.
However, it is true that users do not have to use iCloud “to store photos, videos and other data”. There are alternatives, and that may be enough to stop the case from being heard.
What happens next
Which? has lodged its complaint with the Competition Appeal Tribunal, which must now decide whether it has merit. If the tribunal upholds the complaint, the next step will be to grant permission for the consumer group and the newspaper to bring the UK equivalent of a class action.
If this happens, the claim will be heard on behalf of all eligible UK consumers. These consumers will be included in the claim unless they specifically request otherwise.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal has not yet added the complaint to its case register. At the time, no timetable was published for when a decision could be expected.
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