Apple and Samsung were recently fined millions of dollars by the consumer watchdog in Italy over claims that the two companies slow down their phones through software updates in order to force customers to buy newer models. Huawei, the company battling for supremacy in the smartphone market with both of these companies, has taken this opportunity to throw shade at Apple and Samsung while also promoting its latest device, the Mate 20 pro.
Planned obsolescence is what this practice is called, slowing down phones through software updates. Apple acknowledged it was doing that but had entirely different reasons for it. Apple said that it was throttling the processor on older devices with degraded batteries to prevent accidental shutdowns.
It did apologize after this controversy and enabled users to opt-out of this functionality in a later update. Samsung has always maintained that it does not slow down its smartphones through software updates.
Once news about the fine came to light, Huawei sent out a tweet saying that “We would never slow our phones down to force an upgrade.” The company also said that the new Huawei Mate 20 Pro is “#BornFastStaysFast.”
Clearly, it wants customers in the market for a new high-end device to consider its offering over those of its two major rivals. So might as well promote it at the expense of its rivals.
We would never slow our phones down to force an upgrade. We're proud our new #HuaweiMate20Pro is #BornFastStaysFast – just like every other phone in our range. #NeverSlowDown Learn more now > https://t.co/Fn1ADt5VBW pic.twitter.com/AJihfosqAM
— Huawei Mobile UK (@HuaweiMobileUK) October 25, 2018