Customers need to wait longer for a new battery

Feb 28, 2018 07:20 GMT  ·  By

Apple discounted iPhone battery replacements from $79 to $29 following the performance throttling fiasco, but the company has a hard time dealing with all requests since early January.

Wait times for new batteries have increased significantly, and now it’s being estimated that replacing the worn-out unit on an iPhone takes 2.7 weeks on average, up from 2.3 weeks last month.

According to a report from BI citing Barclays analysts, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are among the models brought in for battery servicing most often, and these two in particular are hit by major delays. On the other hand, iPhone 7 batteries are typically in stock and devices can be serviced the same day.

Nevertheless, the analysts note that contrary to Apple’s estimates of increasing supplies throughout February, the company actually faces longer wait times, and there’s a good chance these would increase even more in the coming weeks.

“As wait time is still within the 2-3 week range, we expect an increasing cross-section of consumers to take advantage of the $29 offer instead of purchasing a new iPhone,” the analysts said.

Three new iPhones coming this year, including more affordable model

The worst thing for Apple isn’t necessarily the company’s image that’s seriously hurt due to this blunder, but the fact that many customers who bring their iPhones in stores for battery servicing are unlikely to purchase a new model.

This means older iPhones will stick around for a little longer, impacting the sales of new-generation iPhones. Analysts estimate Apple could lose more than $10 billion just because of this battery replacement program.

Apple, on the other hand, hopes the 2018 lineup of iPhones can compensate. Three different iPhone models are expected this year, out of which two would feature an OLED display, while the third is likely to come with an LCD screen for a lower price in an attempt to upgrade customers from older generations.