iPhone’s battery swap: $86 and three days

Apple Inc. provided information on how the iPhone’s battery replacement will take place and how much it will cost. The iPhone vendor’s choice of a sealed-in battery-the same approach used in the iPod-has generated some criticism. The battery is estimated by Apple to handle several hundred charges before losing its ability to hold a charge.
The service fee for a new battery is $79.00, plus $7 for shipping.
“The repair process normally takes three business days,” according to Apple’s Web site, and users must backup their data prior to sending the device to Apple for a battery swap.
“It is important to sync your iPhone with iTunes to back up your contacts, photos, email account settings, text messages and more,” Apple said. “Apple is not responsible for the loss of information while servicing your iPhone and does not offer any data transfer service.”
The iPhone vendor mentioned that users may rent an “AppleCare Service Phone”-don’t freak, it’s an iPhone, for a $29 fee-while their own iPhone is being “repaired.”
Whether consumers will choose to send in their iPhone after their original battery loses its effectiveness is likely to be closely watched. Analyst Shiv Bakhshi at IDC said the replaceable battery “raises concerns.”
“Could this be a tool of planned obsolescence, designed into the device as a means of enticing consumers to upgrade to a new iPhone?” Bakhshi asked, rhetorically, in a recent report.
The result would be locking in consumers not just to Apple but to AT&T Mobility, the iPhone’s exclusive domestic carrier, the analyst said.