Apple admits problem with some iPod nanos

updated 2:08 p.m. ET Sept. 28, 2005

SAN FRANCISCO - Display screens crack easily on a small number of iPod nano digital music players, Apple Computer Inc. acknowledged Wednesday, saying it would replace flawed units.

Apple was responding to a flurry of complaints posted to online forums and community sites about faulty screens on the iPod nano, the tiny music player the company launched earlier this month to much fanfare. Most of the complaints revolved around screen scratches that made the displays difficult to read.

Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said Apple had received few complaints and the only real problem was cracked screens, which would be replaced.

“This is a real but minor issue that involved a vendor quality problem in a small number of units,” Neumayr said. “This has affected less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the total iPod nano units that we’ve shipped. And it’s not a design issue.”

Customer service employees at three Best Buy stores and two Circuit City locations in different parts of the country said Tuesday that they had not received any complaints about the nano screen.

Apple’s response appeared to quell some of the anger about the faulty screens.

A Web site called flawedmusicplayer.com, which had posted complaints about nano screens, removed them after Apple acknowledged the problem.

“I am very delighted to see Apple take this issue seriously,” according to a note on the Web site. “Apple is admitting there was a real issue. I got what I wanted: fixed iPod nanos for the people who deserve them.”

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