Over at Vice/Motherboard is an article on the expected lifetime of apple phones, based on the proceedings in a class action lawsuit over problems with iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices.
When it released its iPhone 7 Environmental Report a year ago, Apple wrote that it "conservatively assumes a three-year period for power use by first owners," which is "based on historical customer use data for similar products."
Greg Joswiak, Apple's VP of iOS, iPad, and iPhone Marketing, told Buzzfeed last month that iPhones are "the highest quality and most durable devices. We do this because it's better for the customer, for the iPhone, and for the planet."
But in court, Apple argues that it is only responsible for ensuring the iPhone lasts one year, the default warranty you get when you buy an iPhone.
The case in question is related to problems with the touch screen, as the soldering connections to the controller IC fail. However this failure only occurs after months of normal usage.
In that court case, currently being litigated in California, the plaintiffs attempted to argue that "consumers reasonably expect that smartphones will remain operable for at least two years when not subject to abuse or neglect because the overwhelming majority of smartphone users are required to sign service contracts with cellular carriers for two year periods."
Apple's motion to dismiss in that case noted that the plaintiffs' phones broke more than a year after they were purchased, which is after the warranty expired. If your phone breaks after the warranty is up, well, you're out of luck, Apple argues.
Arturo González, the lawyer representing Apple in the case, wrote in the motion [...] that it is "not appropriate for courts to rewrite the express terms of a warranty simply because of a consumer's unilateral expectations about a product."
More background on the case from last October in Fortune
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 13 2017, @07:07PM (1 child)
Okay, then let's consider the following failure curve.
1 year: 5% of devices have failed
2 years: 10% of devices have failed
3 years: 20% of devices have failed
4 years: 50% of devices have failed
5 years: 80% of devices have failed
6 years: 100% of devices have failed.
So how would you warrant and advertise this device. In my mind, I think it would be reasonable to say "we provide a 1-year warranty for this product, but we expect it to last 3 years or longer."
However, it sounds like you would say that that is false advertising and subject to a lawsuit. So how would you sell it? Keep in mind you are also trying to maximize profits for your company, so offering a 6-year warranty is great customer service, but will make you go bankrupt.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 13 2017, @10:09PM
Assuming that is the failure curve for the device under normal and/or expected use, you wouldn't. You'd fire the design and engineering teams that produced such a shoddy piece of junk. That curve is just shameful and I really hope you pulled it out of your ass because it's shit.
If that is a real-life failure curve, PLEASE tell me what product it is so I know to never, ever buy it.