Apple Hit with $12.2 Million Fine in Italy Over iPhone Throttlegate

Italy just slapped Apple with a €10.7 million fine (about US$12.27 million) for anti-trust violations stemming from the software fix for iPhones crashing because of worn out batteries, also known as “throttlegate.” Reuters summed up Italy’s reasoning for the fine saying,
Italian consumer groups had complained that software updates for mobile phones reduced the functionality of the devices and were designed to push clients into buying new handsets.
The idea that making a product perform poorly will make customers want to buy more from a company seems a little illogical to me. Still, Apple’s failure to tell customers what they were doing sits at the root of the problem. In this case, it’s a $12 million lesson in why transparency with customers is so important.