Print

Mail

wiki links

France questions Apple about shattering iPhones

An iPhone is pictured on June 10 in Paris. A French security guard said on Tuesday he was hit in the face by glass when the screen of his iPhone exploded. PHOTO: AFP

Apple sought to reassure the French government on Friday that several recent cases of iPhones cracking and allegedly shattering were not caused by product defects, but were the result of improper handling by users.

French Secretary of State for Trade and Consumer Affairs Herve Novelli met Apple France’s financial director Michel Coulomb to discuss the issue and possible measures, Novelli’s office said.

French media have reported more than 10 cases of iPhone screens cracking or phones exploding.

Apple’s chief European spokesman, Alan Hely, said the company was investigating “a small number of recent safety reports.”

Hely said no cases of batteries overheating had been detected and that broken screens on the iPhones were caused by too much external pressure applied to the phones.

Novelli, the trade official, appeared to agree with Apple, saying that the “explosions” were not caused by overheated batteries, but by outside pressure.

Novelli said non-Apple experts in the US were examining three problematic iPhones brought from France and were going to test more in the coming days.

France Telecom, which has sold 1.2 million iPhones in France, says it is monitoring the reports of damage but has not taken any measures in response thus far.

The first high-profile case of a malfunctioning phone came early last month, when an iPhone reportedly shattered and sent glass into the eye of an 18-year-old from Aix-en-Provence.

Frank Benoiton of Acheres-la-Foret, south of Paris, said the screen of his wife’s iPhone cracked without warning last week.

“It was not dropped and experienced no unusual shock,” he said.

Benoiton went to Orange France, the telecom company where he bought the phone, to try and get it fixed. He said Orange told him it could not help him because it was caused by the phone user and to contact Apple.

He said Apple France, too, initially said it was a result of user error and that nothing could be done. However, several days later, Benoiton received an e-mail from Apple that his phone would be replaced free of charge.

“I am very satisfied about that. I wasn’t trying to get a new phone, just a new screen, but sure, why not,” he said by telephone.

The European Commission said last week that it spoke to Apple about reports in different EU countries of problems with iPhones and iPods and that the company is investigating.
This story has been viewed 826 times.