I'm starting to really like this company again.
I stumbled upon a great article at QUARTZ. (if you don't know of it, check out qz.com for some great content) discussing the latest Apple scandal, where apparently a phony apple device charger killed a user dead in China last week. Supposedly a fellow countryman and counterfeit apple charger owner was zapped into a coma just a few days before!
Now, for those of us who watch and um, kinda worship Apple have come to expect, generally we get Cupertino Confidential. That usually lasts for a few weeks, then comes the massive apology effort. Everyone gets a free iPhone case. That kind of thing. . . :)
Not this time.
This time, Apple offers to buy any counterfeit or 3rd party apple device charger from anyone who can present at least one Apple device (iPhone, iPad etc. . .) for 10$. Not 10$ American, mind you. . . 10$ credit towards a 20$ 'authentic' Apple charger. Brilliant.
As quoted from qz,
In a single stroke, Apple has inoculated itself from blame if any further third-party chargers disastrously melt down—as the shoddy, cheaply manufactured fakes are prone to do. If it had chosen to do nothing, it would have eventually faced some uncomfortable questions, like: “How many more people have to die because Apple sells overpriced chargers?”
By offering to take back any and all third-party chargers, even those made by legitimate accessories companies like Belkin and Griffin, Apple is cementing its own super-premium-priced chargers as the gold standard. Even at 50% off, it may still be making a profit. Blogger Ken Shirriff, who has done extensive analysis of iPhone chargers both fake and real, has noted that the components in Apple’s high-quality chargers only cost about a dollar more to manufacture than Samsung’s charger, which retails for $6 to $10.
And let’s not forget that Apple’s take-back program will generate a surge of extra foot traffic to Apple Stores, where users trading in their chargers may well decide to buy a new iPhone case, an Apple TV, or what the heck, maybe a fully-loaded MacBook Pro. The company collected $57.60 in revenue per Apple Store visitor in the first quarter, according to Asymco analyst Horace Dediu.
As Sina Weibo user 糊涂洒家 wrote: ”Apple is calculating. The program saves its reputation on one hand, it also generates profit.”
The original story can be found here. I'm a big fan of risk mitigation. Extra points are scored when you can make it look cool and find a profit in the process.
