Once upon a time, most cellphone
users could easily replace their batteries should they want to extend the life
of their handset. Absent operator error, the decline in the performance of rechargeable
batteries constitutes one of the major motivators for handset owners to replace
and upgrade. When wireless carriers
subsidized handsets, consumers readily handed over their phones for something
better, thereby reducing churn as they extended their subscription for another
two years. They could have replaced the
battery, but why bother?
Operators
and device manufacturers appear to have elevated the battery hassle factor even
as handset subsidies started to evaporate.
Wireless consumers may want to extend the usable life of their handsets,
but replacing the first to degrade or fail component has become a major effort.
With the
passage of time, cellphone manufacturers and carriers saw the strategic benefit
in making devices less modular, with battery replacement costly and difficult. Most currently used smartphones don’t offer a
quick and easy replacement opportunity.
One must use a device to pry open the handset possibly voiding the
warranty and damaging the phone.
On balance,
making handset batteries hard to reach has worked out well for both carriers
and handset manufacturers. Until now. Users of the Samsung 7 would easily have
received by mail a replacement battery for their fire prone handsets without
any inconvenient and device downtime.
Instead, they must part with their lifeline to the cloud for some
indeterminate period of time until a replacement handset arrives.
Maybe this unfortunate
episode will prompt a return to easy battery access. I wouldn’t bank on it now that wireless users
need external nudges not to squeeze additional months of use.