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FOIA Documents Detail iPods Overheating, Catching Fire
suraj.sun passes along a report from a Seattle TV station that has been investigating reports of Apple iPods overheating and bursting into flames. "An exclusive KIRO 7 Investigation reveals an alarming number of Apple brand iPod MP3 players have suddenly burst into flames and smoke, injuring people and damaging property. It's an investigation that Apple has apparently been trying to keep out of the public eye. It took more than 7 months for KIRO 7 Consumer Investigator Amy Clancy to get her hands on documents concerning Apple's iPods from the Consumer Product Safety Commission because Apple's lawyers filed exemption after exemption. In the end, the CPSC released more than 800 pages which reveal, for the very first time, a comprehensive look that shows, on a number of occasions, iPods have suddenly burst into flames, started to smoke, and even burned their owners. ... Apple refused to comment, and refused to answer all of the other questions [the reporter] has been asking of the company since November."
There's a difference between a toy that is unsuitable for children because it is a choking hazard, and an electronic device that was sold 175 million times and had 15 reported cases of overheating. Given what we know, there's a high likelihood that the reported issues were not due to an inherent problem with the devices, but due to user error (I would guess getting an iPod wet or leaving it in a hot car could in some cases cause overheating). If it were an inherent problem with the product, there would very likely be more cases.
So we don't know what actually happened. There's a chance Apple is behaving unethically. There's also a chance that there is nothing wrong with these devices. Given what we know, my bet would be on the latter.