Late last week, it was reported that there was a class action investigation taking place in relation to bootlooping issues with the Google Nexus 6P. The assumption being that the class action investigation could lead to a lawsuit. Well, it seems that is exactly what has now happened, as following the initial reports, Chimicles & Tikellis LLP filed a lawsuit against both Huawei and Google over the issue.
The filing seems to be directly in sync with what was reported on last week. So besides the actual bootlooping issue (which the filing describes as when Nexus 6Ps “enter an endless boot loop cycle which renders the phones unresponsive and unusable”, the filing also looks to highlight an ‘early shutdown’ issue which was also noted with the device. This latter issues largely revolves around Nexus 6Ps shutting down before they should – before their battery has fully depleted. The filing refers to the boot looping issue as the “Bootloop Defect” and the “severe and premature battery drainage” issue as the “Battery Drain Defect.” However, not only does the lawsuit hold Huawei and Google responsible for the issues mention, but also directly accuses them of either knowing or “should have known” of the issue. Adding that both companies “failed to disclose them in order to increase their sales.” Interestingly, the filing goes on to specifically state that it is believed the issues are present due to an “incompatibility between the phone’s’ hardware and software”. Although, further or more detailed explanations on this point were not disclosed in the initial court filing.
The filing does however, go on to offer detailed descriptions of individual cases of how the two defects affected certain users, while also drawing on social media comments from the likes of Twitter, Reddit, and YouTube, to further illustrate the length and breadth of the issues. As well as drawing on other points, like how Google and Huawei’s respective Nexus 6P product pages continued to highlight the ‘battery benefits’ of the Nexus 6P while not making it clear that there had been issues noted by users. Therefore in addition to the damages sought for current and previous Nexus 6P owners, the filing also looks to establish a framework where the two companies (Huawei and Google) cannot keep “concealing” the defects. Those interested, can read the full court filing from last Friday by heading through the link below.
Complaint in full