Apple, Google and other top tablet manufacturers have been accused of inflating tablet costs by more than a 1,000 percent on their tablet PCs.
The investigation called on by Which?, one of the leading consumer groups, revealed that adding an extra 16GB of capacity to a device on an average costs a customer not more than £5.95. However, big tech companies including Apple and Google are ripping off customers by over charging them for extra storage.
The investigation found that Apple for its 32GB iPad Air charges an extra £80 as compared to the 16GB version, while the additional memory costs Apple a mere £6 to procure.
Google is just behind the iPad maker charging £70 for increased storage on its Nexus 10 device, followed by Amazon which charges £40 to boost storage on its Kindle Fire HD.
The Which? Investigation report read as “The best thing about using a tablet is filling it with apps, songs and videos that you love. But all of this content gobbles up storage space fast, and tablets use flash memory that’s limited in size.”
“Unlike with PCs, tablet storage is difficult to upgrade after you’ve purchased your model. That’s because most tablet bodies are sealed and don’t let you install further hardware.”
Richard Headland, Which? Editor said “With tablets in demand this Christmas, buyers will be shocked to discover what a raw deal they’re getting on built-in memory”.
Which? Reports also cited the fact that the amount of storage space advertised by the manufacturers is often not representative of the amount of space available for the customer’s songs, apps and photos.
Apple, Amazon and Google declined to comment anything over the allegations, but Samsung said “It is Samsung policy to provide the most reasonable market price to customers”.
