— This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on February 5, Monday.
Apple has confirmed that a "small percentage" of iPhone 7 devices are affected by a bug that prevents the phone from connecting to a cellular network. Instead, the phone would display "No Service" on its status bar.
Apple admits during an announcement on its website that the problem is due to a failed component on the main logic board. The company will offer free repairs to customers experiencing the issue.
However, the repair program has some restrictions, including that the affected devices must be of a specific model number depending on the region customers bought their devices.
Apple says these devices were manufactured between September 2016 and February 2018, and were sold in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, and the United States. The company also stipulates that customers might be required to get their affected iPhones repaired in the country or region or purchase, and if the device has unrelated issues such as a cracked screen. Which means that customers will need to get that resolved first before going through the complimentary No Service repair, otherwise they might be charged for additional repair services. Meanwhile, if a customer has already paid to have this fixed, they may be able to receive reimbursement for the repair cost.
This is hardly the first recall/repair program we've seen for various iPhone issues, which have recently included battery problems for the iPhone 6s. Before the battery issue, Apple had determined that in a small percentage of iPhone 6 Plus devices, the iSight camera has a component that may fail causing your photos to look blurry. Hence, the company then offered a replacement program.
However, these replacement and repair programs come at a time when Apple keeps to achieve record-breaking earnings and profits.
On Thursday last week, Apple reported earnings for the quarter that ended in December. Highest ever quarterly revenue, highest profits as well as a record-breaking cash pile. However, on the stock shares level,
Shares of Apple close down more than 10 percent from the all-time high Friday, putting the stock in correction territory, with the closing price on Friday at 160.5 USD/share.
Now the question is - what's coming up for Apple? Among the recent scandals, can Apple keep achieving more record-breaking earnings?
CNBC's Qian Chen, reporting from Singapore.