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Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) became the fourth major PC-related manufacturer this year to struggle with production flaws when it issued a recall yesterday on 28,000 15-inch G4 Powerbook batteries.
Forrester senior analyst Simon Yates told MacNewsWorld that Apple is not alone among PC makers in experiencing the pain of recalls, as other high-profile technology manufacturers have faced more widespread product coverage.
"Hewlett Packard had to recall 900,000 memory modules shipped in HP (NYSE: HPQ) and Compaq notebooks in June due to a design flaw discovered after the fact," Yates said.
Also, the Apple battery recall comes on the heels of Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) last month recalling as many as 38,000 of its combination auto/air adaptors sold for Inspiron/Latitude notebooks due to risk of electrical shock.
Pushing Technology Limits
Yates also noted that Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), in an unrelated recall on the same day as Dell's, had to pull back an unspecified number of new chipsets, popularized by their codenames, Grantsdale and Alderwood, which already had begun shipping and were included in some enterprise-standard configurations.
Yates said he believes the fact that the majority of PC makers no longer manufacture their own parts, instead depending largely upon various third-party subcontractors, is a significant contributor to the series of recalls.
"They [PC vendors] verify hardware and drivers for their platforms -- but if an issue could be a problem from the [third-party] manufacturing process, they may not find it," Yates said.
IDC senior PC analyst Roger Kay suggested that PC manufacturers seem to be trying to squeeze more out of battery technology. Apple boasts as many as five hours when running one of its notebooks on battery power.
"One thing highlighted by these results is that battery technology is being pushed to the limit by increasing system performance," he said.
IT Headache
In addressing the quality control issue, Yates said: "This can be a major headache for IT departments. A manufacturer has to have a strategy in place to reduce disruption to the customer."
Kay suggested that it is no easy task to find machines targeted by a recall.
"It's often quite difficult to track down the systems, which may have gone through several tiers of resellers and even been passed along to other users after initial purchase," Kay said.
Yates said the process used for reconciling recalled hardware with replacements is the key to a successful recall, adding that the company also must seek to take as many of the bad parts out of circulation as possible.
"There has to be an even exchange to make sure the bad parts do not end up back on the market," Yates explained. "The vendors have to know how they will get replacement parts to customers and [provide] a convenient return method for customers."
Fire Hazard
As for recovering from the public relations challenge of a recall, Yates had two words: "Customer service."
Meanwhile, the battery in question in the G4 Powerbook was made by subcontractor LG Chem of South Korea. The flaw that was identified can cause an internal short in the battery cells and generate excessive heat that could create a fire hazard. At this time, it seems only the battery in the G4 Powerbook is affected.
This recall follows the company's recent troubles with iBook logic boards and first generation iPod batteries. Apple has addressed both of these issues with extended warranty or discounted parts replacement programs.
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