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Apple Launches Third-Party USB Charger 'Takeback Program'

Glassman said:
Now the problem with cheap Chinese chargers is that they are forced to sell for way too little - and the manufacturer's profit margin is razor thin, but the competition fierce. The only way to make some buck in this market is to go and cut everything down to the absolute minimum cost. Unfortunately they don't even stop when it comes to safety critical elements of the design. Safety is compromised by design, component quality/reliability is poor. The performance is poor as well - but at least that doesn't kill anybody!

Who's to blame for this? The Chinese? While they certainly don't possess the basic human decency and compassion that would stop them from willingly producing safety compromised products, let alone their engineering ignorance to see the safety issues in the first place. It is ultimately the western buyer who makes all this possible - our own kind comes to China and pushes the vendors for the cheapest prices imaginable and also WILLINGLY AND KNOWINGLY buy non-complying chargers plastered with safety certificates THEY ALL UNDERSTAND AND AGREE will be faked.
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There are major exceptions. Haier Corporation ("compete like a wolf") has made some of the finest refrigerators this world ever knew and succeeded with that.
 
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Nice move by Apple.

I wish they'd drop their proprietary connector and use USB (as all others do), though.
 
Good, my official iPhone 4S charger is yellowing and the cable is prematurely wearing... $10 and I got a new replacement. Not bad.
 
Bad move for Apple, later there will be a lawsuit alleging that Apple has recognized the fault in the iPhone that make it electrocute people.

Just wait for the class action suit ...
 
Woyzeck said:
Nice move by Apple.

I wish they'd drop their proprietary connector and use USB (as all others do), though.
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The Lightning cable is far better than micro/mini USB for mobile phones. While I wish Apple would've made it MagSafe style (kind-of a fail they didn't), it's alot better than the current offerings of other brands (Samsung is an example)
 
daneoni said:
...or keep the the unofficial one and possibly electrocute yourself. But hey at least you save $15.
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Joke right? How many chargers? How many electrocutions? Millions and millions chargers, maybe one maybe two deaths?

So 'possibly' is not a very accurate description of the risk.
 
macs4nw said:
Please tell us, where you got those figures?
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Seen the circuit, know the prices of components & material in volume here in China. Can imagine Apple's order quantity and their negotiating position. Small sweatshops make their chargers less efficiently than say Flextronics or Delta for 60c in smaller runs. Apple's charger is basically the same stuff just using better material & components that certainly increase the cost, but it's not made of unicorn dust or anything. Well organized large OEM with their volumes can offer quite an amazing prices.
 
DisMyMac said:
There are major exceptions. Haier Corporation ("compete like a wolf") has made some of the finest refrigerators this world ever knew and succeeded with that.
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There are number of Chinese companies doing well, some even amazingly so. But here we're talking bottom of the barrel shoddy little factories cheating their way towards the lowest cost - at any cost. And all because that's what foreign buyers really want from these guys.

China's proper brands - Huawei, ZTE, Xiaomi, Meizu, Lenovo etc. in telecoms alone. There are many more in appliances etc. but that's a different story...
 
pixelpro said:
Good Move. A company that cares!
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Not really. It's just sad that reporters have such a hard on to attack Apple for things that Apple is not responsible for, and has no control over, that Apple has to do something like this as a PR move.
 
Tubamajuba said:
Dead serious. It's not Apple's fault that people choose cheaper chargers over the ones they sell. The people buying the cheaper chargers are responsible for their own decision. If Apple's chargers were faulty, Apple would be responsible for any and all damages related to their chargers. But that's not the case... Apple is implementing this program to maintain and improve their corporate image, not due to any sort of real or perceived responsibility.

Again, it would be nice if Apple's chargers were cheaper. But they're not. If that's a big problem for somebody, there are some pretty good third party chargers and cables- just read the reviews before you buy and realize that Apple is not responsible for any damages you may incur from using them.
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Ok now I know you are not serious and you are trolling, thanks for the clarification.
 
Chinese manufacturers send in a bunch of people to Apple store to replace their counterfeit ones with official ones and sell them at normal price.
 
thekingofnerds said:
Not sure where he got his figures - but here's some examples.

As far as the iphone goes - here's a breakdown of the iPhone 4s when it was released. $188. One could assume the 5 is around the same.

As far as the charger goes - it's probably closer to $1.50 to $2. I know when I worked in retail the base price on most usb chargers (the price the store paid) was anywhere from $5-10 depending on the brand. The store had anywhere from a 50-200% markup, again, depending on the brand, so we sold them from $15-$30 usually.

It's safe to assume it didn't cost the manufacturer anymore than a buck or two.

And if that makes you mad - the margin on inkjet cartridges was around 200-400%. HPs were the highest - but they price fix badly and will refuse to sell you any of their cartridges if you don't have a high margin.
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It's really sad to think that people believe these estimated bill of materials figures actually represent the total cost of producing a phone-or any product.
But that's the world we live in.
 
Kwill said:
Is that what your time and gasoline is worth?
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Well I would never do this since I have no need for an extra charger outside of the one that's included in the box, but I was just pointing out a hypothetical way to "abuse" Apple's program into savings from their overpriced chargers (I don't think they are; just stating the general consensus).
 
Mrg02d said:
This either shows that:
A-Apple is naive
B-Apple chargers cost them nearly nothing.
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Only one trade-in is allowed per device. So there is a limit to what this could cost them.

The real answer is:
C- the value of this in publicity and good will far outweighs the cost of the program.

It's not so much that Apple will get positive press for this; rather, they are heading off the negative association, as in "Fake Apple chargers are killing people," via pre-emptive action.
 
RobertMartens said:
Joke right? How many chargers? How many electrocutions? Millions and millions chargers, maybe one maybe two deaths?

So 'possibly' is not a very accurate description of the risk.
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I did say possibly not probably. IIRC.
 
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