Apple drops battery price $50

[nelson61]

Apple sorry for slowing iPhones, cuts battery price by $50
Apple sorry for slowing iPhones, cuts battery price by $50

 

[navychop]

Man that’s cheap. But will it be done in store in an hour or two?

So will Batteries Plus and other competitors sue?

 

[harshness]

So will Batteries Plus and other competitors sue?

It bears all the markings of giving something away which is usually viewed as anti-competitive.

Of course when they do this, their turnaround time will go from hours to days to weeks.

Apple will claim that they're trying to restore consumer confidence (aka "buying blue sky") but I wonder how long they can keep selling at or below cost.

I need to call my Financial Advisor...

 

[Foxbat]

• A Message to Our Customers
• iPhone Battery and Performance

Regarding the pricing, as mentioned in the iOS 11 and iPhone 8/X threads, third-party batteries are available for under $30. Of course, those are DIY prices...

It bears all the markings of giving something away which is usually viewed as anti-competitive.

What's anti-competitive about a company admitting they goofed up and trying to do right by their customers? My Ford Escape has the Microsoft SYNC system that Ford extended the warranty on its workings to 5 years at no cost. Is that anti-competitive because I might be more likely to buy Ford in the future because they did the right thing?

 

[Foxbat]

This sounds about right to me: The most annoying things about Apple’s apology for slowing down iPhones

 

[harshness]

What's anti-competitive about a company admitting they goofed up and trying to do right by their customers? My Ford Escape has the Microsoft SYNC system that Ford extended the warranty on its workings to 5 years at no cost. Is that anti-competitive because I might be more likely to buy Ford in the future because they did the right thing?

It is anti-competitive for Apple to do it because there's an entire marketplace that has grown up around replacing iDevice batteries. Batteries are a "consumable" because they die over time. To have Apple engage in a frontal assault on the replacement marketplace and sell something for less than cost (including labor and overhead) is a nice gesture but it certainly frags things for the aftermarket that they helped establish.

I submit that they could have offered vouchers and let the consumers decide how much of a hurry they were in to restore lost performance. I'm betting Apple's replacement service turnaround is going to leap.

 

[Foxbat]

It is anti-competitive for Apple to do it because there's an entire marketplace that has grown up around replacing iDevice batteries. Batteries are a "consumable" because they die over time. To have Apple engage in a frontal assault on the replacement marketplace and sell something for less than cost (including labor and overhead) is a nice gesture but it certainly frags things for the aftermarket that they helped establish.

If Apple really wanted to do damage to the third-party repair companies they would have made it so the Apple iPhone would only work with Apple batteries. The repair shops can still replace damaged screens and there are probably a good number of owners who don't want to send their iPhones to Apple for a week to have the batteries replaced. For those people, getting their batteries replaced by their local repair shop will still be a better option. Will they drop their prices to be more competitive? Could be. But isn't that Good for the Customer? Lower prices?

I still think that Apple needs to let the user decide if they want the slow performance over the chance that their iPhone might shut down if the battery voltage drops too low under load. I still maintain that Apple could design a power management system that should take in this degraded battery chemistry into account and produce a usable supply of power for the phone's needs even after the battery is deep into its cycle count. They might need more real estate for this circuitry but there's no pesky headphone jack, so stick some good capacitors in there to smooth things out.

I'm betting Apple's replacement service turnaround is going to leap.

On that I have no doubt. Appointments will be hard to come by in the first quarter or two of 2018.

 

[navychop]

I predict in Q4 I will replace my 6+ battery. Then upgrade and give my 6+ to my MiL.

 

[harshness]

For those people, getting their batteries replaced by their local repair shop will still be a better option. Will they drop their prices to be more competitive? Could be. But isn't that Good for the Customer? Lower prices?

I doubt the profits for the third parties are all that significant to begin with. They likely pay as much or more than Apple for the batteries and their labor is probably similar. Maybe they can shave a few dollars but they can't sell for cost or less.

In terms of knowing who your friends are, don't forget that the aftermarket are the organizations that stepped up when Apple decided that they wanted to make 100% or more profit.

 

[Foxbat]

Yep, I'll agree, I bet $29 doesn't even cover the labor costs let alone the battery. But could you live a week without your phone? That's worth more than $50 to a lot of people who don't live conveniently close to an Apple Store.

I'll have to see if my iPhone 6 is worth upgrading. If I trade it in, Apple (or whatever company does the work for them) would probably replace the battery as part of refurbishing the phone for resale. I don't think I'd get my $29 + tax back in the trade-in.

 

[Hall]

I bet $29 doesn't even cover the labor costs let alone the battery.

I'm guessing Apple is breaking even at that $29 rate. Figure a battery is around $5 and around 30-45 minutes of labor ($10-15 - I've read that their techs can get up to the $20/hr range), factor in training costs, store overhead, etc, they're probably doing okay. Certainly not losing money, I'd say !

 

[TheForce]

My guess is there will be a new iOS release that will include a battery warning popup bubble advising the phone has been slowed to prevent unexpected shutdown. The battery has reached near end of life and should be changed, click here to schedule this service at your local Apple store for $29.

I don't recall a slow down on my 6+ but the run time when the screen is active was getting very short. Only 2-3 hours. Considering the age, just under 3 years I decided to order a battery and do the swap myself as described in the other thread. I would not recommend it unless you are used to working on electronics. It did not take long but did require careful effort to remove the old battery because the glue was difficult to remove. I destroyed the old one getting it out. My cost of the battery was $19 but I also bought some extra tools with it that made the cost $24.

Normally, I would just upgrade but I'm not happy with the cost / benefit of the new iphones. I'd be a candidate for a 256G iphone X but not until they offer a 4K screen in 16x9 aspect ratio. Otherwise, my 6+ is working just fine for my needs.


There is one additional problem with keeping older iphones that I have to consider. As the iOS keeps getting more robust, the older CPU's just may get bogged down and the phone performs slower as a result. At some point, it may be wise to stop upgrading the iOS to preserve performance.

 

[harshness]

I'm guessing Apple is breaking even at that $29 rate. Figure a battery is around $5 and around 30-45 minutes of labor ($10-15 - I've read that their techs can get up to the $20/hr range), factor in training costs, store overhead, etc, they're probably doing okay.

Too often people forget about overhead costs on labor. Depending on utilities, parking, rent, insurance and other overheads, I can see the company's cost on a "$15 employee" being easily upwards of $70/hour. Based on Don's recent experience I'd be inclined to think that 25 minutes is probably somewhere in the middle of what someone who does this all the time could pull off.

Any way you slice that you're looking at the labor cost plus disposal costs for the spent battery adding up to what Apple is charging and you still don't have the replacement battery. There's also an opportunity cost where you've got someone swapping out batteries that could be working on things that generate profit.

 

[TheForce]

harshness- Don't forget Apple is being sued for this in class action. The claim is that they did the slow down as a sneaky way to get people to upgrade which Apple denies. But they now have to demonstrate a sign of contrition for their failure to be open on why they programmed a speed cut on the CPU. I see this ( $50 cut to the battery change selling price ) as a self imposed punishment which should not be later discovered to be yet again another profit. It's a give away for their wrong doing. But in the overall scheme of things, microscopic hit to their bottom line.

Now, I have quite a large position in Apple and plan to stay long on it. I look forward to a pull back so I can add more to my position. I see the stock dropped to 169.05 in the aftermarket. A nickel from my first execute order. These little hits by the media continue to be a buying opportunity for people wanting to be an investor in the most successful company in the world. This event is the little picture. What people aren't hearing is the current sales numbers of iphones this quarter have hit 30M units, mostly iphone 7. The next earnings report will be on January 29. It is expected to be a whopper quarter.

 

[navychop]

My iPhone 6+ is on its third battery. At no further charge to me. And it’s slower. And it locks up now and then, something it used to never do.

But this level of support takes a lot of the sting out of the thousand dollar upgrade charge.

Maybe I’ll upgrade first in a few months, THEN replace the battery and give it to my MiL.

 

[navychop]

BTW, I’m a bean counter. I am exquisitely aware of overhead costs. And the square foot sales of those white floors. And the value to Apple of keeping the faithful happy. Short run, Apple is losing money on every battery swap. Don’t even attempt to argue the point. Long run: Keeping current customers happy, AND putting out a GREAT appeal to potential customers.

Isn’t this new flavor of this sweet refreshing drink FANtastic?

 

[TheForce]

Apple's decision to turn the battery swap for $29 is a smart one in that there will be more to gain than lost. Because along with upgrading your battery for a small $29 price, you still will suffer performance issues with new iOS that is more CPU intensive, designed to work on the faster chips with more cores. Most people will want the new features and the best way to get that is with new hardware. So, in addition to breathing new volts into your circuits with a $29 battery, you should stop doing the iOS upgrades as well to avoid slow running iphone.

Remember when we had those 486 CPU's in our computers? Do you think you could run windows 10 on them? Today, if you aren't using a minimum of 4 core processor, Google Chrome wouldn't perform very well.

The iPhone 7 had a 40% faster CPU and 50% faster GPU than the iPhone 6S. This is a big multi-generational jump and means the iPhone 8 is not only the fastest smartphone (excluding the X) on the market, but it is likely to remain faster than Android rivals well into 2019 as well. The 6 has a dual core processor, the 8 has a 6 core processor.

If you are annoyed by lack of performance as you become more dependent on your iphone for more things in life, budget for the 6 core iphone and be good to go for another year or two. If you want augmented reality features, then jump to the iphoneX.

BTW- I just received a note from TD Ameritrade that their stock trading app will now support the iphone X and it's Augmented Reality capability.
I haven't looked into what that means, ie reviewed the video yet, but it sounds interesting. Augmented reality for stock trading? Could that be like learning Option trading using real world market data for virtual classroom training?

 

[navychop]

“...more to gain than lost...”

You’re in their store. With time to kill. And goodies to look at......

 

[harshness]

If customers hang on to their phones (or hand them down after renewing them) rather than replacing them, is this good for Apple?

 

[harshness]

BTW, I’m a bean counter. I am exquisitely aware of overhead costs.

I was replying to Hall who didn't seem to be taking overhead into account.