Apple Sues Former Partner For Stealing 103,845 Used Devices

IPhone and MacBook (Irvan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - Apple is reportedly suing a former partner of GEEP Canada for allegedly stealing and reselling at least 103,845 iPhones, iPads and Smartwatches that were supposed to be dismantled or recycled.

"At least 11,766 pounds of Apple devices left the GEEP premises without being destroyed, a fact confirmed by GEEP," said Apple's demands as quoted by The Verge, Monday, October 5.

This was discovered when Apple audited more than 500,000 iPhones, Smartwatches and iPads produced between 2015 and 2017. The company found that 18 percent of these devices out of a total of 103,845 still access the internet via cellular networks.

The figure doesn't count for Wi-Fi-only devices, so it's likely that the actual numbers resulting from the audit will be much higher, if you look back.

It is known, GEEP did not dispute the theft, but claimed that there were three employees who stole the device for their own benefit, not the company. In contrast, Apple claims that the employee is actually a senior executive of GEEP.

For information, Apple acknowledges that it markets reconditioned devices, but will not sell or allow devices that do not meet the company's safety or quality standards.

"Products sent for recycling are no longer sufficient for sale to consumers and could cause serious safety concerns," said Apple.

However, Apple is serious about recycling its products that are no longer suitable for use. This is because the amount of electronic waste in the past year reached 53.6 million metric tons of discarded cell phones, computers, equipment and other gadgets.

Like other technology companies, Apple has tried to improve the quality of its environment, including efforts to use its own recycling robots, Daisy and Dave.

The robot is designed to recover iPhone components that cannot be recycled with traditional equipment. Even though it already has its own tools, Apple still relies on other partners to recover valuable materials from used devices.

Of note, GEEP Canada was one of Apple's partners from 2015 to 2018. Repairing and reselling devices is also part of the GEEP business, the company explicitly states its mission on its website.