Apple Replaced 11 Million iPhone Batteries in Its $29 Program (cnet.com)

Apple's $29 battery replacement program may have seriously dinged sales of its 2018 iPhone models. From a report: The company replaced 11 million iPhone batteries under the program, John Gruber of tech-focused blog DaringFireball reported Monday, citing Apple CEO Tim Cook at an all-hands meeting. Typically, the company replaces 1 million to 2 million batteries each year, DaringFireball noted. Cook cited the program's negative impact on Apple's revenue in a Jan. 2 sales warning to investors but didn't offer specific numbers.

Comments

Good

[sexconker]

Batteries should always be replaceable (ideally, by the end user).

Re:Good

[dgatwood]

This. Asking why people don't buy cell phones with removable batteries is like asking why iPhone users aren't buying phones with a headphone jack. The answer, of course, is that Apple no longer sells one.

To truly measure whether users care about a feature, you would have to have two nearly identical models whose only differences are that feature and any unavoidable side effects thereof. For example, you might have a model that has a removable battery at a slightly higher price and with a slightly thicker case. Without a proper control, you're comparing apples and oranges.

Re: Cheaper than the alternative

[dnaumov]

A standard battery management procedure used by almost everybody when implemented by Apple suddenly becomes a new item because REASONS

Interesting item not considered -future sales bump

[SuperKendall]

The much larger than normal number of batteries sold, seemed to have led somewhat to a decline in new purchases that led to Apple's earnings warning.

That sent the stock down. But what I do not see anyone mulling over, are implications for the future... given the high degree of measured customer satisfaction from iPhone owners (90% +), this simply means that future sales have been deferred - not lost.

So at some point in the future, probably 1-2 years hence, there's going to be a bump in sales from all these people who got new batteries as they finally do upgrade...

Now an alternative to this scenario is: What if this gets more people accustomed to buying batteries to extend the life of phones? Even then it would just mean a longer delay, but it could lead to a deeper change in consumer behavior and generally longer ownership cycles, long term.