Can we stop this? Can we stop the public from doing something that they like to do? Probably not. The public wants to drink and be merry. And we should allow them to do that as long as it's not causing something nefarious or destructive down the road. Opium use is so nefarious that virtually all governments have outlawed its use.
But it's like drinking alcohol. Alcohol companies are very profitable. A large population consumes it, and fairly regularly. It's regulated, but since it can be enjoyed responsibly, it's not outlawed.
Apple... Gee, I don't know... Certainly slowing down older phones to make it an incentive to upgrade is unethical. But Apple also stated that wasn't the "reason" and that the reason was if the phones weren't slowed down there'd be sudden power failures. Hence the phones were slowed down to prevent sudden failures and to manage current draw, not to decrease performance. While some may not believe that, we can't assume Apple is wrong until we have more information. So I'm not certain Apple is in the wrong yet. That's why I'll be buying more Apple devices for now, but I'll be extra wary about it.
All we can do is vote with our money and eyeballs. And votes when it comes to political elections. That's how we can stop it.