Samsung faces legal action over phone software

China is one of the world's biggest markets for smartphones

Samsung is being taken to court in China over the software it loads on to its handsets.

A Chinese consumer protection group launched the legal action over the default apps or "bloatware" found on Samsung phones.

It said many people did not want the software and added that the firm made it hard to remove the applications.

The Shanghai Consumer Council also filed a similar case against Chinese phone-maker Oppo.

App removal

The council said it was motivated to start the legal action following a growing number of complaints about pre-installed apps. It said people had complained because of the space the apps took up and because they ate into data allowances when they were updated.

Results from a study carried out by the council said a standard Galaxy Note 3 could contain 44 pre-installed programs that could not be removed or were hard to disable. One Oppo phone tested by the council was found to have 47 apps that could not be uninstalled.

"The litigation is our latest attempt to safeguard consumers' rights after other methods failed," Tao Ailian, secretary general of the council, told the Shanghai Daily.

The legal action aims to make the two phone-makers put in place systems that let people remove the apps easily and warn them about what they get when they buy a new phone.

In a statement, Samsung said: "We have not yet received the formal complaint filed by the Shanghai Consumer Council.

"We will thoroughly review the court document and determine an appropriate response," it added.