Samsung Electronics America, Inc. advertises its Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G smartphone as having 128GB of storage. But the complaint for this class action alleges that the real amount of memory for the phone is substantially less—just over 101GB—because Samsung has pre-installed a number of its own applications that cannot be removed by users.
Two classes have been defined for this action:
- The Pennsylvania and New York Class is all persons in Pennsylvania and New York who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.
- The Consumer Fraud Multi-State Class is all persons in Iowa, Arkansas, Wyoming, North Dakota, and Utah who bought the product during the applicable statutes of limitations.
Page 1 of the complaint shows an ad for the “Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G 128GB” smartphone from the Best Buy website. The promise of “128GB” is shown both in the main title of the item and on an external sticker on the box showing the barcode, identifying the phone as “Phantom Black/128GB.”
“However,” the complaint alleges, “purchasers receive only 101 GB of storage or 21 percent less than the promised amount, disclosed in the fine print specifications with the technical terms of ‘Internal Memory’ and ‘Available Memory.’” According to the complaint, a footnote explains the missing 26.6GB of memory as “Portion of memory occupied by existing content.”
What is this “existing content”? The complaint identifies it as not just the phone’s operating system but also “pre-installed applications such as Direct TV, Samsung Notes, Samsung Health, Samsung Pass, Samsung Visit and Smart Limits (for driving).”
“While these applications can be disabled,” the complaint alleges, “they cannot be removed to free up more of the promised storage space.” The complaint claims that these apps are not needed for the smartphone to work and “they are added solely to benefit” Samsung.
The phone’s storage cannot be expanded by adding a memory card, the complaint claims, meaning that those who buy it will never have the use of the promised amount of storage.
According to the complaint, the information that the smartphone’s storage is smaller than advertised is either not shown to consumers or not conspicuous at the phones’ points-of-sale, whether at third-party sellers like Best Buy or at the stores of cell phone carriers. The complaint alleges that consumers who buy the phones are not aware they are getting less storage space for their photos, videos, and music than advertised.
The complaint alleges that the “false and misleading representations” allow the phones to be sold for a premium price, around $1,199.99.
Article Type: LawsuitTopic: Consumer
Most Recent Case Event
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G Less Storage Than Advertised Complaint
January 8, 2023
Samsung Electronics America, Inc. advertises its Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G smartphone as having 128GB of storage. But the complaint for this class action alleges that the real amount of memory for the phone is substantially less—just over 101GB—because Samsung has pre-installed a number of its own applications that cannot be removed by users.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G Less Storage Than Advertised ComplaintCase Event History
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G Less Storage Than Advertised Complaint
January 8, 2023
Samsung Electronics America, Inc. advertises its Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G smartphone as having 128GB of storage. But the complaint for this class action alleges that the real amount of memory for the phone is substantially less—just over 101GB—because Samsung has pre-installed a number of its own applications that cannot be removed by users.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G Less Storage Than Advertised Complaint