Opinion: The smartest thing Apple ever did is to offer the cheap batteries.

You'll never hear me ever say Apple Marketing is stupid.
Think about this...

Many are assuming Apple cheapened its expensive replacement batteries to
"temper criticism"(1) over its "bonhead handling"(2)of their secret "peak
performance" feature (doublespeak for capping CPUs at half speed).
"Apple+IBk-s bargain battery replacement campaign is an attempt
to kiss and make up."(3)

As a result, Barclays says "519 million users" can take advantage of the
$29 battery offer, where, Barclays says, if only 10% take advantage of the
offer and if 1/3 of those decide to keep the doubled-speed phone instead of
buying a new iPhone, then Barclays estimates Apple will lose 16 million
sales in 2018 alone.(4)

On the one hand, Apple loses around 16 million sales, but think about what
would have happened if Apple *didn't* replace the batteries on these
phones?

In just a short time, each of those half a billion iPhone owners would be
stuck with an iPhone whose life was "extended" by Apple courtesy of
limiting "peak performance" (an euphemism for capping CPU speed by more
than 1/2).

By replacing the battery, these customers get a temporary reprieve, for at
least another year, before their phones halve in performance again.

By that simple action of replacing defective batteries *at customer cost*,
Apple pushes off the ire of half a billion customers, for at least another
year.

That reprieve for Apple Marketing is *crucial*, I posit, for them to
weather what *will* happen when *those* refurbished iPhones again (and
again and again) throttle themselves back to 1/2 CPU speeds after just
another year.

Bloomberg asks: Can Apple Profit From Its Battery Debacle?(5)

The answer is yes! Emphatically.
Why?

Because they push off the inevitable, for only one year, at customer
expense. Then the phones halve their speed again (and again after that).

You have to admit, Apple Marketing is sheer genius!

--
Ref1: http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/iphone-battery-replacement-cpu-throttling-3370511
Ref2: http://www.zdnet.com/article/can-apple-dig-itself-out-of-the-iphone-throttling-hole-it-created-for-itself/
Ref3: https://www.bostonglobe.com/business/2018/01/11/will-apple-battery-bombshell-drain-smartphone-sales/CTEnvihp360SYRnqd3J7lN/story.html
Ref4: https://www.barrons.com/articles/apples-battery-gate-fix-good-pr-move-may-hurt-iphone-sales-says-barclays-1514994135
Ref5: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2018-01-09/can-apple-profit-from-its-battery-debacle