iPhone users in UK demand £3bn from Apple over ‘rip-off’ accusations

Apple allegedly owes British iPhone owners up to £3bn after charging “rip-off prices” for its iCloud storage service.

Which consumer group? He filed a lawsuit at the Competition Appeal Tribunal accusing Apple of unfairly “trapping” customers into overpaying Monthly fees for iCloud.

It is stated that if the claim is successful, 40 million Apple customers could be entitled to around £70 each.

Which? He claims that Apple is a “dominant player” in the smartphone market. It accuses the US company of abusing its monopoly to gain an unfair advantage in the cloud storage market and charge high prices in violation of competition law.

The group argues that Apple has made it difficult to use alternative cloud storage providers to back up data such as photos on its phones.

Apple offers five gigabytes (GB) of free iCloud storage for iPhone users; Although photos and app backups take up much more space on modern smartphones, this capacity limit hasn’t changed since the company introduced iCloud in 2011.

The 5GB limit means millions of customers will pay a monthly fee for iCloud, ranging from 99p for 50GB to £54.99 a month for 12 terabytes (TB), a level designed for professional photographers or videographers.

Apple increased monthly prices by up to 29 per cent last year, increasing the cost of a 200GB plan from £2.49 to £2.99 and the 2TB plan from £6.99 to £8.99 .

Users can manually back up their iPhone to an alternative cloud service by connecting their iPhone to a computer, or back up their photos using separate apps.

Apple was sued in the US earlier this year for similar reasons. The company called the allegations in the US lawsuit “implausible” and asked for the case to be dismissed.

Anabel Hoult, CEO of Which?, said: “We believe Apple customers are owed around £3 billion as a result of the tech giant imposing its iCloud services on customers and cutting off competition from rival services.

“By making this claim, Which? It shows big companies like Apple that they can’t rip off UK consumers without facing repercussions.

“Taking this legal action means we can help consumers get the compensation they are owed, deter similar behavior in the future, and create a better, more competitive marketplace.”

Which? He said British consumers would automatically be included in the case if they lived in the UK.

The group previously launched antitrust proceedings against microchip company Qualcomm, claiming it abused its dominant position to increase the prices consumers pay for smartphones. Qualcomm is fighting the claim, which is scheduled to go to trial next year.

Apple said iPhone users don’t need to use iCloud, and nearly half of customers don’t pay for the subscription.

A spokesperson said: “Apple believes in providing choice to our customers. Our users don’t need to use iCloud, and many rely on a wide variety of third-party alternatives for data storage.

“We also work hard to make data transfer as easy as possible, whether it’s to iCloud or another service. “We reject any suggestion that our iCloud practices are anti-competitive and will otherwise vigorously defend against any legal claims.”