Apple, Samsung anti-trust probes (3)

(ANSA) - Rome, January 18 - The Italian anti-trust authority on Thursday opened two separate probes into companies in the Samsung and Apple groups operating in Italy, for suspected anticompetitive practices. The authority said the decisions had been taken after complaints from consumers and a "formal pre-investigative phase". The companies are accused of "a general commercial policy aimed at exploiting the lack of certain components to reduce the performance times of their products and induce consumers to buy new versions".
    The firms also allegedly offered clients "software updates of their cellphones without highlighting the possible consequences of the update and without supplying enough information to maintain an adequate level of performance of the devices, promoted and acquired for their specific and elevated technological characteristics".
    This conduct, the anti-trust authority said, "could prove to be in breach of articles 20, 21, 22 and 24 of the Consumers Code.