As I’ve previously discussed both here and here the ACCC took issue on behalf of consumers over false advertising in Australia of the iPad + 4G as it was called at the time. Although the judge has yet to provide a final approval for the amount of the fine for Apples infraction, The Australian (link via news.com.au) reports that Apple will receive a $2.25M fine that will cover the ACCCs court costs plus the remainder as a penalty as provided for by the Australian Consumer Law. It may sound like a lot of money but for Apple with nearly $100B USD in cash on hand it’s hardly more than an irritation to the giant company. In terms of the amount of the penalty the value is nowhere near the highest penalty brought for false and misleading advertising by the ACCC in Australia. Only last year Optus was fined in excess of $5M AUD for example.

The sad truth is that it is unlikely Apple will change their US-centric view of their business - which is understandable since the US is where they operate and is their largest single market (though not their largest source of revenue anymore). If a name makes sense in the US then it is likely they will use it everywhere in the world once again and argue their case for that product on its own merits again. Such is their approach to product naming in general they will likely continue to name products the way they choose to, and like this fine will simply cop the flak when it inevitably comes back as a cost of doing business in other countries.