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What is Apple doing with all those returned Iphone 4's.

S

Scottyfrombi

macrumors member
Original poster
Apple has said that if you are having problems with your new iPhone 4 you can send it back if it is undamaged. If they are only accepting undamaged iPhones 4's will they not be recirculating those "problem phones" back to the public as new iPhones? I have heard that some work and others do not. So the chance of getting a "new" one that is not working seems to have just gone up quite a bit. I don't think Apple tells you if it is a returned phone when they resell it, do they? Or will they just use these unsatisfied customers returned phones as replacement phones for future warranty defect replacements?

Anyway, perhaps I will wait a few months for this to all work itself out and perhaps fixed new unreturned iPhone 4's are being sold.

Any thoughts?
 
Scottyfrombi said:
Apple has said that if you are having problems with your new iPhone 4 you can send it back if it is undamaged. If they are only accepting undamaged iPhones 4's will they not be recirculating those "problem phones" back to the public as new iPhones? I have heard that some work and others do not. So the chance of getting a "new" one that is not working seems to have just gone up quite a bit. I don't think Apple tells you if it is a returned phone when they resell it, do they? Or will they just use these unsatisfied customers returned phones as replacement phones for future warranty defect replacements?

Anyway, perhaps I will wait a few months for this to all work itself out and perhaps fixed new unreturned iPhone 4's are being sold.

Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Good question. I haven't seen them sell refurbished 3GS or 2g phones. They probably use them for replacements.
 
AT&T (among others) sell refurbished iPhones, so all will get refurbished and some sold while others used for replacements.

Case Closed.
 
They're definitely going to start using them as replacement refurbished phones for people wanting an exchange. I guarantee it.
 
Generally they send them back to the factory where they are disassembled, fixed, tested and then reassembled in new caseing. They are given a new sn and provided to the Apple Store to be used as white box refurbs. Some are diverted to AT&T for sale as well as the apple store for the same purpose. I would venture to guess that most right now are destined for the Genius Bar.
 
What makes you think alot of people are returning their ip4s? I highly doubt it. Considering there is a three week wait list at the apple store I don't think many people are clamoring to return the phone. They're just hitching about them on the Internet
 
if there is a 10% return, that's 200,000 phones

Based on 2 million sales and guessing at 10% return, still a whole lot of new looking phones floating around. Even Apple has to be tempted to fudge a little and just resell some of them if they appear to be working well.

I am an Apple fan, but man, there sure has been a lot of bad press on the new iPhones and with a no penalty return policy, many will buy and try and return if for no other reason than just to wait until the smoke clears and Apple resolves the problem or at least reduces the bad press that is out there now.

I am holding off for a few months, just to see which way this all goes. For now my 3GS is still doing the job for me. I usually jump on new tech right away, but this one has me wondering enough to delay.

Also, slightly off subject, but since I am venting, I still think that Apple will release a mid cycle 64gig iPhone now that it has been announced that a 64 gig cell phone drive is being released. Maybe they will call it 4GM similar to the 3GS (speed). Since the antennae thing is so troubling perhaps that will get fixed also in a mid cycle release, (hopefully sooner than later).
 
Scottyfrombi said:
Based on 2 million sales and guessing at 10% return, still a whole lot of new looking phones floating around. Even Apple has to be tempted to fudge a little and just resell some of them if they appear to be working well.

I am an Apple fan, but man, there sure has been a lot of bad press on the new iPhones and with a no penalty return policy, many will buy and try and return if for no other reason than just to wait until the smoke clears and Apple resolves the problem or at least reduces the bad press that is out there now.

I am holding off for a few months, just to see which way this all goes. For now my 3GS is still doing the job for me. I usually jump on new tech right away, but this one has me wondering enough to delay.

Also, slightly off subject, but since I am venting, I still think that Apple will release a mid cycle 64gig iPhone now that it has been announced that a 64 gig cell phone drive is being released. Maybe they will call it 4GM similar to the 3GS (speed). Since the antennae thing is so troubling perhaps that will get fixed also in a mid cycle release, (hopefully sooner than later).
Click to expand...
I have my doubts that the return rate is anywhere NEAR 10%. It's probably closer to 1%, if that.
 
bit_bucket said:
Generally they send them back to the factory where they are disassembled, fixed, tested and then reassembled in new caseing.
Click to expand...

I believe only the original iPods get a new case every time. iPhones and iPod touches do not unless they really need it.

They also don't go back to the China factory, that would cost too much in shipping. They are refurb'd in California, I think.

As Apple says:

Each Apple Certified Refurbished Product:
  • is fully tested (including full burn-in testing).
  • is refurbished with replacement parts for any defective modules identified in testing.
  • is put through a thorough cleaning process and inspection.
  • is repackaged (including appropriate manuals, cables, new boxes, etc.).
  • includes the operating software originally shipped with the unit and the custom software offered with that system. See each products "Learn More" for more details.
  • is given a new refurbished part number and serial number.
  • is placed into a Final QA inspection prior to being added to sellable
    refurbished stock.
Click to expand...

I have a refurb'd iPod touch and it's been very good (although the battery holds less of a charge now, years later).
 
A survey of 3GS owners showed an exchange rate of ~7%, which is about the median for Apple products.

And it didn't have antenna or sensor problems.

(The highest return rate I can recall was for one of the hard drive based iPods.. 160GB maybe?... that was over 30%)



.
 
I'm planning on returning my iPhone 4 because I do not believe they can fix the antenna issue without a redesign and subsequent FCC approval which means months.

Thoughts?
 
Bill Gates said:
I have my doubts that the return rate is anywhere NEAR 10%. It's probably closer to 1%, if that.
Click to expand...

You beat me to the punch....I also thought there was an extra zero on that number. Heck, 1% might be way high...

There's still a long wait for a black iPhone. I'm still waiting on white for my wife.
 
jkrutch said:
You beat me to the punch....I also thought there was an extra zero on that number. Heck, 1% might be way high...
Click to expand...

As was just pointed out, a 1% exchange rate would be too low even for a fairly perfect model.

iPhone buyers tend to be an especially perfectionist (and impatient) bunch. No doubt large numbers were returned for the yellow glue issue, dead pixels, and now the proximity sensor.

It would not be surprising if the early return rate was close to 10%. And that would still be low for almost any phone. It's not bad.

I don't think Apple makes more than a few weeks' worth of new exchange units. They don't have to. Pretty quickly they're going to have lots of refurbs available.
 
Umm... folks are missing a big part of the question here.

Rate involves time. # units returned/exchanged over a certain period of time divided by the total # units sold.

For the historical rates, be they 7% or 30%, were those over the entire warranty period or within the first 30 days?
 
deeddawg said:
For the historical rates, be they 7% or 30%, were those over the entire warranty period or within the first 30 days?
Click to expand...

Over at least the warranty period.

Which means the first few weeks are probably much, much higher. Especially because even Apple stores don't know what is really a problem or not at first. (E.g. the yellow screen which mostly goes away.)
 
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