Apparently some people who bought the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPhone believe that the company misled them about the battery in the handset. For some time most consumers believed that the power source could be replaced by getting a new battery at an AT&T (NYSE: T) store or over the internet.
But the iPhone is no ordinary handset. The battery is built-in and cannot be replaced by customers Aside from the lawsuit, a group called Foundation for Consumer and Taxpayer Rights claims that Apple mislead consumers.
Although some news sources wrote that the battery could not be replaced by users, Business 2.0 writes that Apple may not have made it clear that the battery would have to be replaced by AT&T until after the phone was launched.
So, Apple gets a class action suit and some complaints.
It is hard to believe that the legal action will prevail. Since the battery is sealed in the phone, the replacement characteristics are obvious. But, the issue could hurt iPhone sales.
Cell phone users have become accustomed to walking into a store and buying a replacement battery. After about 400 charges the iPhone battery begins to lose its power to hold new charges and the cost to replace the battery is $80.
No matter how cool the phone is, the battery replacement will cost as much as buying some new handsets do. Some cell phone users just won't buy that.
Sheldon Liber wrote about the iPhone's battery problems on July 20th.
Douglas A. McIntyre is a partner at 24/7 Wall St.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-30-2007 @ 9:03AM
mike said...
hmmm just like the ipod shuffle sooooooo many charges and then bammm! its dead. People will buy it for the "it" factor so i really dont think there sales will be hurt. Also with every electronic everything is expensive at first then it goes down in price. HOWEVER, if the media actually grabs ahold of this and runs with it apples screwed.
7-30-2007 @ 9:43AM
Sheldon L said...
$79 for battery + $30 for loaner = $109 + tax.
Also swapping sim cards to the temp remembers numbers but not attributes in most phones.
IP2 battery will most likely be redesigned
7-30-2007 @ 9:49AM
Tana said...
Oh please, a person who is willing to pay that much for a phone shouldn't complain about the battery life! If you can afford to dish out that kind of money for the phone you should be prepared to continue to dish out money for anything that goes with the phone. That's the cost of wanting the newest phone right when it comes out! As far as sales go, I doubt it will seriously affect anything, especially Apple's profits.
7-30-2007 @ 11:02AM
Gina said...
I don't really know why this is such a shock to so many people. The iPhone was built to incorporate many of the features of the iPod...including the battery. Which is why i didn't buy one. Anyone wiht an iPod an common sense would know that eventually you will have to send the damn phone out to the end of the earth, just to replace the battery, therefore losing your phone, iPod, and palm pilot all at the same time. Not worth $600 if you ask me.
7-30-2007 @ 11:14AM
NRMEOLA19 said...
Ok a while back I was buying and selling and doing real well. I was invested in a company called TTWO. On a message board at the time a smart man gave me a company Blue Rhino...I listened. Now I am turning back to the experts and asking for a mover? something reasomable to buy. Any suggestions?
7-30-2007 @ 1:51PM
Neil Anderson said...
Think of Apple's battery costs as a green tax. Apple can recycle the batteries in a responsible manner.