Dutch society for the protection of the rights of consumers Consumentenbond has filed a lawsuit against Samsung. Main rival Apple accused of failing to timely release updates for Android-based smartphones.
The Agency representatives claim that the previously discussed problem with Samsung privately, but now the trial is recognized as the only way to resolve the situation because to agree with the South Korean manufacturer failed.
The document notes that the problem lies not so much in how quickly the owners of Android-devices Samsung receive access to new versions of the operating system, but in the fact that the company is not in a hurry to close discovered security vulnerabilities. According Oszone, Google weekly releases “patches”, which promptly get on Nexus models.
Consumentenbond is accusing Samsung of unfair trade practices, as the company does not speak directly about how long the users of smartphones will have to wait for software updates. Samsung also accused of lack of transparency in connection with critical updates, like last year’s, which closed the vulnerability Stagefright. Samsung selected as a target because of its high share in the local market, although other manufacturers in this respect behave no better.
According to the survey, 82% of Samsung smartphone do not work on the latest version of Android after 2 years after their release. Flagships like Galaxy get security updates fairly quickly, but many devices the average and starting price category may not receive them at all. Moreover, three months after the release of Android 6.0 Marshmallow none of the Samsung smartphone not upgraded to it.
Consumentenbond requires to update all models of smartphones to the latest Android version within two years after its purchase (instead of release) and this should happen within four weeks from the date of the release system by Google. The Agency is looking at software updates as part of warranty, which is valid in the EU a minimum of 2 years.
The embodiment of these requirements into reality seems unlikely given the number of models produced and the duration of their life cycle. Each of them will require work on the latest version of the operating system that may be beyond the capabilities of even companies of the scale Samsung.
