On Thursday, Australia’s competition authority said that a court-ordered Samsung Electronics’ local business to pay a A$14 million ($9.65 million) penalty. The company made false claims that seven of its Galaxy phones were water-resistant, despite the fact that the handsets might cease operating after being submerged in swimming pools or ocean water.
In the long-running dispute, which began in 2019, Justice Michael Murphy authorised the settlement between the tech corporation and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) over marketing connected to seven Galaxy phone models.
The commercials on TV, online, and on billboards depicted the phones as water-resistant and being used at pools and beaches, despite the fact that the phones are not suited for use in pool water or salt water. According to the ACCC’s counsel, Caryn Van Procter, if the devices were used in salt water or pools, there was “a serious likelihood of damage by corrosion to the charging port of the phone.”
The agreed-upon payment is for a substantially smaller collection of advertisements. As part of the settlement, Samsung admitted that nine advertisements for seven products that were offered between 2016 and 2018 were deceptive. The issue would develop when someone attempted to charge their phone while it still had water in the charging port, despite a warning on the phone urging the user not to do so. According to the court, Samsung has now remedied this vulnerability with hardware and software upgrades in newer variants of the Galaxy phone.
During that period, Samsung sold 3 million of the Galaxy phone models covered by the contract in Australia. Justice Murphy criticised how items are frequently advertised in Australia, claiming that the federal court is frequently called upon to hear instances in which products are oversold to customers in marketing efforts.
