Lessons from iPhone 4: Avoid the Dreaded Consumer Product Recall

Apple stopped short of issuing a consumer product recall for the iPhone 4.

After iPhone 4 users raised concerns that dropped calls and bad reception might warrant a consumer product recall on Apple’s newest gadget, Apple CEO Steve Jobs spoke at a rare press conference on July 16 to reassure iPhone 4 users. While stopping short of issuing a consumer product recall for the wildly popular phones, Jobs announced that everyone who bought a suspicious iPhone 4 will receive a free “bumper,” a silicone ring that slips around the phone and seems to solve the bad antenna/dropped calls problem. Apple iPhone 4 customers will escape a consumer product recall.

Despite iPhone 4′s sleek look and top-of-the-line functionality, its usefulness was compromised by something as simple as users holding the iPhone 4 in a position that cut off the antenna’s reception.

There’s a lesson here. While it’s tempting to jump on the iPhone 4 bandwagon, or that of any super-new, ultra-modern tech gadget, buyers can avoid dealing with the potential consumer product recall — and save money in the long run — by waiting until other users have road-tested the product.

By waiting a few weeks, or months, before buying the current model and adopting a wait-and-see attitude, you let other consumers do the quality assurance testing for you. If they run into bad reception and a consumer product recall, they’ll have to deal with sending the defective product back to the manufacturer while you remain in possession of your hard-earned cash.

If you’re one of the few people who can get along with a cellphone that just makes calls (like me), you’ll save even more money and avoid the dreaded consumer product recall even when you upgrade over the long term.  The life span of personal electronics has decreased proportionately with the speed at which newer, shinier products are released on the market. As a result, older models are often vastly cheaper than the newest model and won’t be in danger of a consumer product recall anytime soon.

Sometimes companies drop the price of its latest gadget to compete with similar gadgets from other manufacturers: see Barnes and Noble lowering the price of its e-book reader Nook to get a leg up on Amazon’s Kindle, the market leader. That’s good for all consumers — except the ones that paid top dollar for a Nook.

So the next time you’re pressing your nose to the glass at the Apple store, waiting for a glimpse of the latest tech toy, consider the potential for a consumer product recall. Wait a week or two: you’ll avoid the headache of a consumer product recall and save your dough.