It certainly seems that one of the touted features of Apple’s new iPad, the 4G LTE connectivity, is meeting with a lot of backlash in countries such as Australia. Apple was pressured by the Australian consumer watchdog to drop the 4G branding since technically the tablet was not compatible with local 4G networks. Apple on the other hand is refusing to do so and are defending its 4G branding on their new iPad. Instead they are claiming that Australian networks are mislabeled and not their tablet.
To give the story a little bit of context, when Apple’s new iPad was announced, the inclusion of 4G LTE was certainly met with a lot of enthusiasm by its US customers who had access to 4G LTE networks from AT&T and Verizon. Unfortunately as far as Australian customers are concerned, 4G LTE did not work for them despite Apple advertising it so. This has caused the Australian consumer watchdog to complain about false advertising. Apple has since volunteered to change its statement about 4G and has offered customers refunds if they had originally bought it under the impression that local 4G networks would be compatible with it.
The term “4G” can be a little bit misleading, especially since carriers are legally allowed to refer to services such as WiMAX or HSPA+ as 4G when really, LTE is considered to be “true” 4G. To learn more about the difference between all the different 4G labeling that you might come across in mobile ads, check out our article here on 4G networks. In any case, what do you guys think? Does Apple have a case, or do you think it’s unfair for Apple to assume that everyone in the world is able to distinguish between the different services that 4G can refer to?