The UK’s advertising regulator is stepping up its investigation into Apple’s marketing of the new iPad after it said the technology company failed to comply fully with requests to amend claims about its wireless capabilities.
Last month, after receiving dozens of complaints about the iPad’s advertised ability to connect to 4G mobile networks, which are not yet generally available in the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority began informal discussions with Apple about the issue.
The complaints asked whether Apple’s references to 4G were misleading, especially given UK operators are initially installing next-generation “LTE” wireless networks using an incompatible technology.
Apple was co-operative and agreed to remove the offending claims from the specified parts of its UK website and edited them out of videos, the authority said. The regulator believed the problem had been resolved.
But after Apple implemented the specified changes, the authority received further complaints about the same issue because other references to 4G remained on its UK website.
The authority said Apple had merely complied with the “letter rather than the spirit” of the advertising code by failing to check its site fully for compliance.
As a result, the authority said it was reopening the case and would be asking Apple for its response. It has the power to ban advertisements or impose other sanctions if a brand infringes its code. Apple had not responded to requests for comment at the time of writing.
Alongside an improved screen and faster processor, 4G wireless was one of the main improvements over the previous iPad 2.
The furore highlights a new challenge for Apple in releasing a device before the telecommunications networks it uses are fully available. The iPad’s inclusion of 4G technology comes ahead of network roll-outs in some countries, with the UK lagging behind the US and Japan.
Last month, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission took legal action against Apple for allegedly misleading customers about the iPad’s 4G capabilities. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012)
