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    21 June 2012| last updated at 10:00AM

    Apple fined US$2.29m over Australian '4G' iPad



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    SYDNEY: Apple was Thursday fined Aus$2.25 million (US$2.29 million) for misleading Australian consumers about the local 4G capability of its next-generation iPad, in a case brought by regulators.

    The tech giant was also ordered to pay Aus$300,000 in costs by the Federal  Court.

    Justice Mordy Bromberg found that Apple misled people with claims in its  advertising implying that the “iPad with WiFi + 4G” could connect with fourth  generation cellular networks in Australia, when it could not.

    The judgement found the company engaged in conduct liable to mislead the  public and contravened Australian consumer law.

    Apple had offered in March to refund Australian customers who felt they had  been misled, and publish a clarification about the popular tablet’s  capabilities.

    The product is now advertised outside North America as “Wi-Fi + Cellular”  — a change that came into effect on May 12 —  with a clear caveat on its  Australian site that “it is not compatible with current Australian 4G LTE and  WiMax networks.”   

    “Apple does not seek to deny the deliberateness of its conduct and there  are no facts before me which seek to excuse or explain the conduct, other than  that the conduct occurred at the behest of Apple’s parent company,” Bromberg  said.

    The iPad was the world’s best-selling tablet in the first three months of  2012, outgunning its Android-powered rivals, with sales more than doubling from  a year earlier to send Apple’s profits soaring. - AFP

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