Not so long ago, we informed you about the start of the court battle between South Korea's Samsung and the Dutch non-profit organization Consumentenbond. This is because it has been pointing out for a long time that Samsung does not keep its promises about smartphone support and releases updates for some models much less and especially for a shorter period of time. However, I deliberately say that only for some models. According to the Dutch, flagships do not have a problem with releasing updates, but this is also a problem in its own way, because in this way Samsung could also try to force consumers to buy more expensive phones in a non-violent way, which they can be sure that they will receive in the following years without problem all updates. And this lawsuit just ended yesterday.
If you guessed that Samsung succeeded in it, you are right. The whole plot was very complicated and Samsung could rely on a number of clues in it, including the claim that updates are not only in its hands, but must go through multiple parties and therefore it is very difficult to ensure 100% support for all smartphones. Furthermore, Samsung also pointed out that releasing updates for all models at the same time is not technically feasible due to the enormous complexity, so the release is decided according to which smartphone needs the given update first, for example due to a significant increase in performance or error correction. The court considered these arguments to be acceptable and therefore swept the non-profit's claim off the table.
The Dutch are of course unhappy with the ruling, as they believe that Samsung is acting illegally in this regard. However, they have not yet confirmed whether they will appeal against the verdict. However, as I wrote above, given the complexity of the entire case and the fact that the update process is very convoluted indeed, it is highly unlikely that an appeal and a new trial will change anything.
