Apple Shareholders Urge Tech Giant To Address Phone Addiction Problem

The issue with mobile phone addiction is becoming increasingly popular among young people in the United States and other countries. While it has become a major concern for parents who worry that their children cannot give up on their phones for a few seconds, CalSTRS and Jana are more concerned on the strain that this might cause Apple’s reputation.

Reuters reported that Apple Inc. shareholders Jana Partners and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System are advocating for the issue to be addressed by Apple as this is growing to become a global concern. In a letter to Apple which was dated January 6, the two shareholders encouraged Apple to invent new ways to provide parents with access to their children’s mobile phones. The letter also urged the company to determine the extent to which this addiction can affect mental health. The letter read:

“There is a growing body of evidence that, for at least some of the most frequent young users, this may be having unintentional negative consequences …The growing societal unease is at some point likely to impact Apple. Addressing this issue now will enhance long-term value for all shareholders.”

Many teenagers suffer from phone addiction and it’s quite irrational when the addiction is on a particular product. Although this problem is envied by many companies, Apple already has certain features on display that enable parents to have a control over certain apps, content and data usage. 

As the use of smartphone become increasingly popular, globally, government leaders and Silicon Valley have sought several means to limit their abuse, yet, there’s almost little or nothing that can be done to disrupt the advancement of technology.

While France is looking to place a ban on the use of smartphones in its primary and middle schools, in line with the vision of the Silicon Valley and government leaders, Android co-founder, Andy Rubin is looking to convert smartphones into the virtual versions of the users as a means to “solve addictive behaviour”.

The tech giant has been engulfed in a series of challenges lately.  2017 ended with the company apologizing to customers for deliberately slowing down the performance of older versions of iPhone products to boost sales of latest versions.  As if this wasn’t enough, a couple of days ago, a security flaw was detected on all Mac computers and iOS devices as a result of flawed chips produced by Intel Corp.

Image source: PyschologyToday