What's new
Apple iPad Forum 🍎

Welcome to the Apple iPad Forum, your one stop source for all things iPad. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

ipad 2 failure rate?

Tapmyapple

iPF Noob
Joined
Apr 11, 2011
Messages
186
Reaction score
0
I read online that ipad 1 had a higher failure rate than desktop computers, is that true? Do a lot of ipads go back within the 1yr warranty period? I know with ipad 2 hasnt been out long enough to find out but how has the ipad 1 turned out for failure rates?
 

youngun

iPF Noob
Joined
Apr 6, 2011
Messages
73
Reaction score
0
Location
England
Well thats just really talking about ipod touch and ipod phone.

And the article is dated March 12th, 2010, iPad1 came out in April 2010 in US.

So u can't have read that the "ipad 1 had a higher failure rate than desktop computers" from that article.
 
Last edited:

richsadams

iPF Noob
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Messages
3,500
Reaction score
99
Location
NW Left Coast
As youngun points out...old news about a different product. Plus I think the key phrase in that article would be:

"I know I'm completely out in speculation territory..."

I believe the iPad return rate is about 1.5% to 2% which is considerably lower than for most any CE product. I'm not sure what the replacement rate is (and I seriously doubt those numbers are actually in the public domain) but if there were big issues it would have been VERY public long, long ago.
 

Tarkio

iPF Noob
Joined
Mar 5, 2011
Messages
346
Reaction score
0
Location
Boston

That certainly isn't real data, this is the key sentence in the article...

"I know I'm completely out in speculation territory, but I kind of think that the component failure rate for these devices tends to be a bit higher than for desktop systems."

He's speculating and "kind of thinks" and bases his theory only on iPhones and iPods, not iPads.

I have the iPad 1 for almost a year, as did a gazillion friends. I can't even recall seeing or reading about any iPad failures. Now I have the iPad 2 and it also seems tough as nails. Even the ones with the annoying sample flaws still work.

I think the added size of the iPad makes them more robust than the smaller Apple mobile devices. The only failure I ever had with an Apple device was an old iPod classic that had a hard drive problem. No more tiny hard drives for me! :)
 

Dorje

iPF Noob
Joined
Feb 7, 2010
Messages
340
Reaction score
1
15 million iPad 1s sold before iPad 2 launch. A failure/return rate of 2% would be 300 thousand. Which is close to the population of Toledo in the year 2000.

300 thousand people on the Internet have news media noise factor of New York City, closer to 8 million. Internet noise not equal reality. Plus there are also people who are overly picky and they make even more noise.
 

richsadams

iPF Noob
Joined
Mar 23, 2011
Messages
3,500
Reaction score
99
Location
NW Left Coast
15 million iPad 1s sold before iPad 2 launch. A failure/return rate of 2% would be 300 thousand. Which is close to the population of Toledo in the year 2000.
Slight correction...return rate...not failure rate. Naturally some of those units may have failed and the owners did not want to exchange them for a new one...hard to say. Others may be grandma's that didn't want one of those new fangled things for their birthday. ;)

Agreed, we certainly haven't heard much "noise"...and if that many folks were really unhappy they could be very vocal. A 2% return rate is certainly low by any electronic product standards and the iPad's is certainly better than the reported return rate for the Xoom at 13% or the Samsung Galaxy Tab at 15% to 16%! :eek:
 
Last edited:

Seadog

iPF Noob
Joined
Mar 25, 2010
Messages
2,518
Reaction score
52
Location
Oklahoma
Samsung's revenue and profit may be up, but so is the return rate for its Galaxy Tab.
According to ITG Investment Research, which tracked sale data from 6,000 wireless stores in the U.S., an estimated 13 percent of Galaxy Tab owners are returning the devices. The data was tracked from the device's release in November until the end of December, according to AllThingsD.com.
The news doesn't get any better for Samsung as holiday returns continue to come in. According to the data, if you factor in cumulative data until January 15, the return rate jumps to 16 percent.
In comparison, Apple's iPad had a 2 percent return rate for the same time period, according to the New York Post.

This should give you a bit more perspective about the subject. Also do not forget that return rate is not failure rate. It includes all returns for whatever reason, including those who buy online and then buy in a store.

Now look at this failure rate for laptops from 2009.

Shoppers and list-makers may be interested to learn that Asus and Toshiba notebooks had three-year failure rates below 16 percent. Sony placed third, with a 16.8 percent three-year failure rate, followed by Apple (17.4 percent), Dell (18.3 percent) and Lenovo (21.5). Acer and Gateway came in just under 24 percent, and Hewlett-Packard, which is the world’s largest producer of PCs, came in last, with a 25.6 percent failure rate over three years.

The problem with these quotes is that the companies are not good at divulging such information, and there is debate about how this plays out on the global market. For example, Samsung says they shipped 2 million Tabs, but will not comment on how many sold. There is also a cryptic statement that the return rate was only on the units sold in the US, which is only 18% of the total. However, in many countries, there is no return policy. You buy it, you own it. So if they cannot return something that fails, how can that count?
 
Last edited:

col.bris

Administrator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 25, 2010
Messages
5,888
Reaction score
711
Location
Gold Coast , Queensland Australia
I believe that is less than 1% well at least in Australia. I mean failure rate not returns because the user states " I don't like it. " also unlike USA upgrades to another model are rare if the original has been open it must be in sealed state and with in 7 days of purchase. That is our policy at the good guys at least where I am employed
 
Last edited:

Peter_MacProf

iPF Noob
Joined
Dec 26, 2011
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Location
Geelong, Australia
I was given my iPad for Christmas 2010. It failed around mid 2011 (don't remember the symptoms, but it just wouldn't work) and I could not restore it, so took it into the local Apple dealer. Apple replaced it. This second iPad failed by just shutting down. Re-setting worked for a while, but it kept dissolving into a black screen with random coloured lines and resetting it displayed a very quivery Apple symbol which gave way to the black screen again. Connected it to iTunes and restored it, but iTunes said to restore it again, which I did. This didn't work either, so took it to the dealer and Apple replaced it on 30 November 2011. This third one has now failed with similar symptoms on Friday 23 December 2011. Bugger! The dealer is closed until 3 January 2012. Not happy, Jan!
These iPads have not had a stressful life, unless you count playing Solitaire on it in front of the TV every night, which is about all I use it for. It's not as though I chuck it in the back of the truck, or play Frisbee or beach Cricket with it. I just can't believe this is happening. None of my 27 Macs (since 1990) ever gave me trouble, so this is a real let-down. I am just hoping that Apple will replace it again, even though the 12 month warranty has now expired.
 

Most reactions

Top