Roger Fingas
Apple on Wednesday announced a voluntary recall of its Beats Pill XL speaker, warning that in some cases the battery in the speaker can overheat and cause a risk of fire.
The company has launched a support page for the recall, and asked that people stop using the Pill XL immediately. In compensation the company is offering a refund, whether in the form of Apple Store credit or an electronic transfer of $325.
Affected people must submit a return request via a Web form, after which the company will mail a prepaid shipping box. Only once the defective speaker is received will Apple issue the refund, which it promises within three weeks.
Owners cannot take a speaker into an Apple Store or any other retailer that sells or supports Beats products.
The Pill XL first went on sale in January 2014. Apple would only buy Beats in May of that year for $3 billion, inheriting both Beats' headphone and speaker lineup and Beats Music, an online streaming service.
Wesley Hilliard
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
28 Comments
[COLOR=blue][/COLOR]I hope the purchase of Beats turns out to be worth it. Seems like Cook may not have quite absorbed Beats manufacturing fully into the Apple way of doing things just yet. I wonder who makes the battery, and just where the problem occurs ...?
Cue the anti-Beats drumbeats.....
I don't think the idea is to "absorb Beats manufacturing". I don't think Apple has any interest whatsoever in manufacturing silly, substandard hardware for rap fans. Apple was going after the streaming service and the customers Beats can bring.
BeatGate
[quote name="Jeff Fields" url="/t/186553/apple-recalls-beats-pill-xl-speaker-due-to-fire-hazard-offers-refunds#post_2730414"]I don't think the idea is to "absorb Beats manufacturing". I don't think Apple has any interest whatsoever in manufacturing silly, substandard hardware for rap fans. Apple was going after the streaming service and the customers Beats can bring.[/quote] That's what all the analysts say too. However, how can Apple have a subsidiary that produces substandard products? It taints the brand, especially when they are putting out headphones that clearly match the Apple product line. Apple got out of the audio product line twice. Hard to say if this is an attempt to get back in or not, but if they aren't planning on absorbing the beats product brand fully, then they should spin it off sooner rather than later, and just keep the streaming service. Isn't the rumor that they will eventually fold Beats into iTunes once they get around to fixing iTunes? If so, maybe they will divest the entire Beats brand at that point once they've stripped everything they wanted from it, which was essentially the streaming customer base, and sell the manufacturing business, but not the streaming service rights. In the meantime they hold on to everything for better or worse?