CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An Australian judge on Thursday ordered Samsung to pay 14 million Australian dollars ($9.8 million) in penalties for misleading advertising over how water-resistant some models of smartphones are.
Federal Court Justice Brendan Murphy gave Samsung Electronics Australia, a subsidiary of South Korea-based Samsung Electronics Co., 30 days to pay the fines.
Samsung must also pay AU$200,000 ($140,000) toward the costs of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, the consumer watchdog that initiated an investigation of the phones four years ago.
Samsung admitted to making false and misleading claims in nine advertisements between 2016 and 2018 about the water resistance of seven models of Galaxy smartphones. They are the S7, S7 Edge, A5 (2017), A7 (2017), S8, S8 Plus and Note 8.
Samsung and the commission also agreed to the penalties imposed.
The misleading ads promoted the phones’ water resistance and suitability for use in swimming pools and seawater. But the charging ports could be damaged and stop working if the phones were recharged while the ports were still wet. Samsung said the charging port issue only effected the seven models identified in the case that were launched between 2016 and 2017.
