Is Hong Kong so humid it could wreck your iPhone?
Hongkongers love iPhones, but iPhones may not love humid Hong Kong.
Apple has worked hard to promote the phone in Hong Kong - it's by far the city's most popular smartphone. But the company has not addressed the possibility that it may be unsuited to places where relative humidity regularly tops 95 per cent.
And customers may have a problem getting their phone serviced as a result.
If Apple deems an iPhone or iPod to have been damaged by liquid, such as a spilled drink or from being dropped into the toilet, service is not covered by the company's one-year limited warranty or AppleCare Protection Plan.
In Hong Kong, self-avowed Apple enthusiast Justin Hayward found this out the hard way. After a trip to Indonesia, he discovered that though his phone worked perfectly, it would not recognise the charger when he plugged it in. Hayward said he took it to his phone carrier, Smartone-Vodafone, and the technician quickly declared Hayward's warranty void.
He insisted that his phone was not water-damaged. 'I've never used it in the bath, gone swimming or anything like that,' Hayward said. He kept his phone in a specialised outdoor dry bag during his Indonesia trip.
Hayward went online and found that he wasn't alone. Forum posts to HardwareZone discussed how Singapore wireless carrier Singtel was rejecting warranty claims over water damage, even though the owners swore their phones had never been submerged.
According to Hayward, Smartone offered to replace the phone for HK$1,700 (last year, Apple began offering new or refurbished phones to replace water-damaged phones for US$199), and gave him two months free service and a HK$500 rebate for his trouble.
But Hayward, still insistent that his phone was not water-damaged, decided to contact Apple before making a decision. Over the past week, he has made repeated calls to Apple Asia and its technical support line. More than once, he said, the voicemail box was full. He only received one message in return, but couldn't reach anyone when he repeatedly tried to return the call.
'Let's face it; many people do break the rules. But a significant number of people are making these kind of reports,' he said. 'If the limitation is over 95 per cent humidity, they ought not to be selling the product here. I find it quite unbelievable - a real piece of corporate greed or a great oversight.'
And how did Smartone decide his warranty was void? Because a little dot had turned pink, Hayward said.
To determine whether a phone has suffered water damage, Apple installs iPhones with liquid contact indicators - adhesive dots that turn pink or red when they come into contact with liquid.
Nearly all smartphones and electronic devices are installed with internal liquid indicators, but Apple has also installed external indicators in the headphone jack and the bottom of the phone.
According to the company's website, these indicators 'are designed not to be triggered by humidity and temperature changes that are within the product's environmental requirements described by Apple', which specify a relative humidity of 5 per cent to 95 per cent.
But Hong Kong's humidity frequently exceeds 95 per cent. In Tsim Sha Tsui, the humidity exceeded 95 per cent on 28 days between June 1 and August 16 - more than a third of the time - weather data from the Hong Kong Observatory shows.
In other parts of the city, the relative humidity varied. In Sai Kung, it exceeded 95 per cent on 19 days (one-quarter of the time); in Tsuen Wan it was over the threshold on 44 days - 57 per cent of the time - and on Cheung Chau island for 73 days, or 95 per cent of the time. (The Observatory does not measure relative humidity at its stations on the northern side of Hong Kong Island.)
In results of humidity resistance tests published by 3M, the company that lawsuits in the US have named as the manufacturer of the water contact indicator tape used in iPhones, the indicator turns pink when exposed continuously for seven days to a temperature of 55 degrees Celsius and relative humidity of 95 per cent. Another test found the indicator changed colour when exposed to condensing steam.
3M Hong Kong did not respond to requests for comment, but its promotional materials includes the following disclaimer: 'Important notice: 3M makes no warranties, express or implied, including, but not limited to, any implied warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. User is responsible for determining whether the 3M product is fit for a particular purpose and suitable for user's method of application.'
Apple did not respond to numerous requests for information and would not disclose whether the company had tested the iPhone and its liquid indicators for normal use in tropical climates such as those in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Apple also declined to disclose the company's protocol to determine whether a phone can be refused service for liquid damage.
According to news reports and numerous postings on internet forums, Apple technicians routinely refuse service, citing water damage, after observing that one or both of the external liquid indicators have turned pink or red, without checking the internal indicators or other signs of water damage.
The company has recognised the difficulties distinguishing consumer abuse from warranty-eligible defects.
In a 2009 patent application for a new abuse detection system, Apple wrote: 'Often, particularly at a point of sale, personnel receiving the returned device may be unqualified or untrained to determine whether or not a device has failed due to manufacturing defects or due to consumer abuse.'
Apple faces two class-action lawsuits in the United States for it use of the external sensors to deny warranty service.
Both suits argue that by using the external indicators to apply the liquid-damage exclusion, without verifying whether there was other evidence of water damage, the 'right to coverage under the standard warranty and the extended warranty is rendered illusory'.
Apple is profiting mightily from Asia's enthusiasm for iPhones - in July, the company reported US$15.7 billion in sales in the third quarter, a 78 per cent increase over last year's earnings, driven in large part by sales growth in Asia-Pacific.
Third quarter net sales in the region increased by US$1.1 billion, or 160 per cent, 'due mainly to the significant increase in iPhone revenue primarily attributable to country and carrier expansion and continued growth across existing carriers, strong demand for Mac portable and desktop systems, and strength in the Australian dollar relative to the US dollar', according to the company's July filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
In Hong Kong, the iPhone dominates the smartphone market with a 78 per cent market share, according to a March report by AdMob, which serves advertisements to mobile websites and applications around the world.
Hayward, whose warranty was voided on the grounds of liquid damage, said: 'I really hate to [bring] this [up], because the iPhone is really an excellent piece of equipment. But this sounds like a convenient get-out clause.
'How genuine are Apple here? The public ought to know.'
Water shocker
If your iPhone indicates water damage, a replacement phone from Smartone may cost, in HK dollars: $1,700