Apple faces the third lawsuit in EU, fourth to be filed shortly

Tech giant Apple has been served with a third class-action lawsuit by Italian Altroconsumer group under the Euroconsumer group representing consumer interests in five countries in Europe. The lawsuit aims to collect at least 60 million euros in compensation for users affected by Apple's "planned obsolescence" of its iPhones.

"When consumers buy Apple iPhones, they expect sustainable quality products. Unfortunately, that is not what happened with the iPhone 6 series," said Els Bruggeman, Head of Policy and Enforcement at Euroconsumers in the company's official press release. "Not only were consumers defrauded, they did have to face frustration and financial harm, from an environmental point of view, it is also utterly irresponsible."

Bruggeman said that consumers in Europe deserved compensation. Earlier, Apple was forced to pay 50 million after losing a lawsuit in the United States. The deliberate slowing down of its phones caused customers to buy new batteries or models. In the US, consumers could apply for up to 25 dollars per phone if they had been affected. Apple elicited criticism for what many saw as a paltry pay-out and lack of real apology.

A fourth lawsuit would be filed in Portugal soon, the group revealed. This is the latest in a series of setbacks for Apple after it was forced to apologise to customers in France last year for deliberately capping performance in older phones via an iOS software update.