Battery Discharge, Display Damages & High Cost of Repair Among Apple Consumers’ Top Grievances: Survey

Apple opened its first two company-owned stores in India in Mumbai and Delhi this month, leading to excitement among consumers.

With CEO Tim Cook attending the opening events, the behemoth grabbed headlines but a latest survey has revealed that one of the most common complaints received from consumers over the last three years has been the quality of Apple products and their high cost of service in case an issue is faced.

The survey revealed that the problems included battery discharge, display damages, and wonky charging apparatus among other issues.

“Nearly 3800 Apple device owners among the 11,269 who responded […] had some issue with a less than 3-year-old device with common issues being rapid battery discharge, display screen damage and battery heating,” said the report.

It is, however, likely that as Apple stores open, many of these consumers will walk in there with a defective product or a service request, something that Apple must plan to address to build consumer trust in India.

Another major issue that LocalCircles has reported in the past as a top consumer concern in India is high cost of device service and repair with most brands.

The report says it found that 2344 Apple device users had given feedback in a Right to Repair study, in 2022. Close to half of these had a less than three-year-old Apple device needing repair and said they found it cost prohibitive to repair it through Apple and its partners.

“22% didn’t have the need for device repair, 19% did not check repair costs through Apple and got it done locally while only 10% said they found Apple repair costs to be reasonable,” said the report.

As per the report, the Silicon Valley giant must focus on aftercare for the Indian market, especially at affordable prices.

“The more critical aspect from a consumer standpoint though is the product quality, reliability, service response and service affordability on Apple products. This is an area that needs immediate attention of Apple as the survey finds that a sizable percent of Apple consumers have been facing issues with their less than 3 year old devices and many find Apple repair cost unaffordable and hence resort to local repairs,” the survey said.

In summary, while 30 per cent of Apple consumers are likely to visit company and franchise stores and make purchases there, 44 per cent of them say they currently visit the stores to see products but buy locally with a dealer nearby or via ecommerce platforms.

As mega Apple stores now become available in India, it is likely that they will lead to more consumers making the purchase in these stores. However, given the time it has taken Apple to open these two stores, Apple sales in smaller cities in India is likely to continue as is till an Apple store arrives in these cities.

About the survey

To understand how Apple consumers purchase the company’s products and are likely to along with key issues they have faced with less than 3-year-old Apple products, LocalCircles conducted a national survey which received over 22,000 responses from Apple product consumers located in 271 districts of India. Of the respondents, 63 per cent were men while 37 per cent were women. Apart from this, 47 per cent respondents were from Tier 1, 35 per cent from Tier 2 and 18 per cent respondents were from Tier 3, 4 and rural districts.

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