iPhone roundup: Battery pain, profits, Microsoft compatibility, more
Here’s the latest dirt on the iPhone and iTunes:
IPhone battery replacement hurts — After your iPhone’s one-year warranty expires, its batteries can be replaced for $85.95, but only after you ship it to Apple for three business days. But who wants give up their phone for three days? The company said the battery should last 300 to 400 full charges before it needs to be replaced, meaning that it is likely to die right after the warranty expires. Ouch. Why aren’t these things replaceable?
IPhone very profitable — Apple charges $599 for the 8GB version of its iPhone, but it only cost $265.83 to make, according to a break down of its parts by research firm iSuppi. The firm broke apart the phone and tallied up the cost for various parts. Of course, it doesn’t include marketing costs. Some of the findings: $76 comes from Samsung parts, including the devices’ flash memory, SDRAM memory module and its application processor. The antenna is provided by Infineon. The display provided by Germany company, Balda, at $27 per phone (see Mercury News story). The company has thus made millions in profit already, considering estimates that it sold 500,000 to 700,000 over the first weekend.
Iphone compatible with Microsoft Exchange Server — Details at ZDNet.
The Universal Music Group puts Apple on notice — The major label said it will not renew its annual contract to sell music through iTunes. Instead, it has reportedly negotiated a right to allow it to remove songs from iTunes on short notice if the two sides do not agree on pricing terms in the future.
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About the Author, Matt Marshall
Matt launched VentureBeat in September of 2006, with the realization that no one else was covering the entrepreneurial and tech innovation scene with the velocity or depth that he was. Prior to founding VentureBeat, he covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News from 2001 to 2006. In 2002, Matt was awarded "Journalist of the Year" by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to working at the Merc, he was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Bonn, Germany from 1995 to 1998, and a writer for the Washington Post in 1994. Matt holds a PhD in Government and an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to VentureBeat, Matt is also the Executive Producer of DEMO, the leading launchpad event for emerging technologies.
