New York, US, Mar 15 (EFE) - Apple agreed Friday to pay 490 million dollars to settle a United States lawsuit in which a group of investors accused CEO Tim Cook of fraud for allegedly concealing a drop in demand for iPhones in China.

The tentative agreement to end the class-action lawsuit, in which the tech giant has denied any liability, was filed Friday in federal court in Oakland, California, and must be approved by Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who has scheduled a hearing for Apr. 30.

The lawsuit pertains to "false and misleading" statements Cook made in late 2018 about iPhone demand and Apple's business in China, which caused the company's shares to trade at "artificially inflated prices" until they fell when the "facts" became known, according to the document posted on the court's website.

On Nov. 1, 2018, at a conference with analysts, Cook indicated that Apple had sales problems in several markets where the currency had weakened, such as Brazil or Russia, but stated, "I would not put China in that category," collects the specialized portal CNBC.

A few months later, on Jan. 2, 2019, Apple surprisingly reduced its quarterly sales forecast - the first such announcement since the launch of the iPhone in 2007 - by up to 9 billion dollars, blaming it on trade tensions between the United States and China, it adds.

In response to this unexpectedly negative announcement, Apple's stock fell 10%, wiping out 74 billion dollars in market value.

Among the plaintiffs, who started the lawsuit five years ago, are several pension funds, including the Norfolk Pension Fund from the United Kingdom. EFE

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