In the UK, no such law exists, so shops are able to offer pre-orders with vague release dates or none at all.
Germany has banned vague release dates for pre-orders.
It means shops can’t offer pre-orders with phrases such as “coming soon” or “available soon” any more.
The ruling came about after a consumer protection claim was made against German retailer Media Markt over the pre-order offer for a smartphone Samsung Galaxy S6 in August 2016.