Apple (AAPL) iPods that catch on fire have become a sort of urban legend. There are stories from time to time about spontaneous combustion of the multimedia players, but Apple has played down the incidents. Apple is one of the world most secretive large companies, so the fact that it has not been forthcoming about what it knows of iPod flaws in not unusual.
Apple may not be talking, but the Consumer Product Safety Commission has released 800 pages of documentation about the defects in iPod construction and the danger it represents.
According totech site Ars Technica, “The CPSC sent KIRO 7 Eyewitness News some 800 pages of documentation over smoking, burning, and exploding iPods this week in response to a Freedom Of Information Act request.” Apple’s lawyers have been trying to keep the documents from being released.
The CPSC admitted that the number of incidents reported was fairly small, but there is no evidence that all of the problems have been reported to the commission.
The most troubling thing about the news is that Apple was so keen on keeping the information quiet. There should be no reason for the company to hide results if the problems are a fluke. That is, unless, they are not a fluke and Apple is concerned about its liability.
Apple’s recent financial results show that the company is getting more and more successful as time passes and that the recession has had very little effect on the firm. Apple has about $35 billion in cash and short-term securities on its balance sheet. It is an ideal target for a class action suit.
Apple’s attempts to keep the problems with the iPod under wraps have failed. That leaves the question of whether the trouble is severe enough that Apple will have to spend time in court defending the safety of the product that saved the company.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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