Apple replaced 11 million batteries in 2018, 10 times more than usual: Report

Apple has been in the news for the past few quarters for declining sales and loss of revenue due to US-China trade war and high pricing of the latest generation iPhones in India. The Cupertino-based tech giant which launched the iPhone Xs last year, priced the devices starting at Rs 99,000 going up to Rs 144,000 in India.

Besides, it also started and shut a battery replacement program for older generation iPhones in December 2018 in India. During the program, customers owning an iPhone 6 or later generations could replace their phone’s battery for just $29 or Rs 1,995 in India. While the program was a first for India, it had been in place in other global markets.

This may have been the prime reason for the poor sales globally. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple revealed in an all-hands meeting with Apple employees that a total of 11 million batteries were replaced during the program period which lasted through December, according to Apple insider John Gruber.

Cook cited that it was this program being a reason for the company's poor performance compared to a normal year where only 1 to 2 million batteries are replaced. He also added that some customers took advantage of the significantly reduced pricing for battery replacements.

Cook had warned of Apple missing shipping estimates in its fiscal fourth quarter on January 2 which crashed the company’s stock price. The company decided to offer the battery replacement program as an apology after users learnt in 2017 that the company was slowing down older iPhones to prevent unexpected shutdowns related to old batteries. The peak performance of iPhones was affected as battery performance deteriorated which resulted in Apple throttling the phone’s performance and even shutdown phone without any warning. During the program, customers could replace their phone’s battery if it drained quickly. Apple had also released a software update in iOS version 11.3 where users could check the battery’s peak performance and choose between longer battery life and faster performance.