Reports of Exploding iThings Spark EC Investigation

Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has handled previous product safety issues involving notebooks, iPod batteries and iPhone chargers, but the company's fans are hoping a new threat to its reputation won't -- literally -- blow up in its face.

The European Commission announced Tuesday that it would investigate reports of exploding iPhones and iPods following stories of spontaneously combusting devices in the UK, France, Holland and Sweden. Some of the reports have involved injuries to consumers, including a French teenager who reportedly ended up with iPhone parts in an eye after the device overheated and broke apart.

EC officials have asked the 27 members of the European Union to forward any complaints involving the company's products to the Commission. The Commission is treating the cases as isolated instances and doesn't see any evidence of a widespread problem, a spokesperson for the EC's consumer protection division told media. Apple is cooperating in the investigation, she added.

"We are aware of these reports and we are waiting to receive the iPhones from the customers," Apple spokesperson Natalie Harrison told MacNewsWorld. "Until we have the full details, we don't have anything further to add."

Apple's Product Safety Record

At last count, some 150 million iPods were in various stages of age and use around the world; the product's popularity means the chances for complaints regarding overheating batteries rise with each year. Concerns from Japanese officials about first-generation iPod nanos last summer forced Apple to offer exchanges in that country, and similar iPod nano complaints were reported in South Korea.

Then there was the infamous Sony (NYSE: SNE) notebook battery controversy in 2006. Widely publicized reports of fires and explosions in Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) and Sony computers forced a worldwide recall, and Sony customer Apple also offered a battery exchange program.

Apple issued a safety alert in September of 2008 regarding its ultracompact USB power adapter, which came with every iPhone 3G sold in the U.S., Japan, Canada and Mexico. In some cases, the prongs on the adapter could break off in outlets, sparking a potential electric shock risk. The products were exchanged for redesigned plugs for free.

The Lithium-Ion Problem

As for the allegedly exploding iPods and iPhones in Europe, the problem could be rooted in the science of lithium-ion batteries, now the standard for battery technology in cellphones, notebook computers and other portable devices, Ben Bajarin, director of the consumer technology practice at Creative Strategies, told MacNewsWorld.

"Lithium-ion is a safe technology, but there have been ... rare occasions when an external variable outside the device, like heat or something, has caused it to catch on fire, or potentially even melt the machine," Bajarin said. "The protocol is to examine the devices, heavily troubleshoot them, and see what the cause was -- whether it was heat or an internal spark of some kind."

Apple puts a major emphasis on the consumer experience with its products, Bajarin said, and he believes they've handled product safety and recall issues well in the past. "I know they take them fairly seriously. This doesn't appear to be something of a serious nature, from the initial reports, but if they identify that it is, they'll do the right thing, as they have in the past, and as any consumer technology company should, and put safety first. Most companies have handled it that way."

Some might disagree; Apple was the subject of a guerilla marketing campaign in late 2003 involving two brothers, their complaints about iPod batteries, a negative Web site and video, and their own derogatory touches to Apple billboards. That campaign drew the attention of mainstream media, but questions arose about whether Apple began its battery replacement program before or after the campaign started.