[Q] Micro Arc Oxidation failure?

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Untouchab1e

Senior Member
Apr 11, 2007
1,252
802
Just got a response from HTC. Considering Ive been sending emails to both the Nordic support centers as well as their global support site, I expected a response sooner or later.

Basically they told me that they have received numerous reports about the issue and that they are looking into it. They recommended, as others here have posted, to send the phone in for repairs. But then again, I dont have one yet, so cant do that now can I, but at least HTC seems to be aware of the reports. Updated my post.

---------- Post added at 10:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:12 PM ----------

I'm not planning to get the One S (only interested in the One V if it's coming to Virgin Mobile USA which may use the same shell). I hope it is just a manufacturing batch problem. If it's a design issue, then that speaks volumes about HTC's design & testing process, which should catch something like this easily if they only spent a week or two field testing it. Otherwise it's a HUGE red flag for the whole HTC One line of phones.

BTW nothing gets a company's attention than the mention of "legal" actions ;)

I completely agree. There is no way this would not show up during testing which makes me put a big question mark on how HTC conducts testing and quality assurance.
 

rboekee

Member
Jun 24, 2010
13
2
Cambridge
Well they're acknowledging multiple reports now which can only be a good thing, they've told me via facebook that they are looking in to the issue. Hopefully we'll hear something soon that involves a recall and a fault during the MAO process!

PS on my second One S now and no scratches so far. New S/N is the same as the last one... SH23
 

ascot17

Senior Member
Dec 17, 2006
559
447
Could we add a poll to this thread to see how many black devices and how many grey devices have or do not have this problem?

Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA
 

Procake

Member
Apr 10, 2012
5
0
Mine will be arriving Friday most likely. I don't know whether to open it and use it, or send it back to Amazon now. :confused:

Anyone know how good Amazon are with issues like this if I found the One S I'm getting was prone to this chipping?
 

kyuubi_ac

Senior Member
Oct 13, 2011
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Hamburg
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xufuchang

Senior Member
Jul 9, 2007
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Beijing
HTC responds to One S chipping issues: 'providing all customers with an immediate fix'


Some early customers of HTC's ultra-thin, ceramic coated One S have alleged that the supposedly rugged finish — micro-arc oxidized, as it's called — has been surprisingly easy to damage. Whether they're chipping at a higher rate of incidence than average remains unclear, but HTC's put out a brief statement this afternoon to make it clear that they're looking into it:

HTC is committed to delivering a high quality product and great experience for all our customers. There have been a few, isolated reports of this issue. The finish on the One S was laboratory tested as being at a hardness similar to ceramic. While that's hard, it doesn't mean it's impossible to damage. Regardless, HTC takes quality very seriously and are providing all customers with an immediate fix and we are implementing some small changes to ensure customers do not experience this issue in the future.

It's unclear what HTC means when it says they're "providing all customers with an immediate fix" — we've reached out to the company for clarification — but they're clearly taking a Nokia-esque approach to nipping the complaints in the bud.

Update: We've heard back from HTC, and the "immediate fix" is simply to return the One S to the store where you bought it within the DOA period (typically 30 days, though it varies by country). Beyond that, HTC says it'll be happy to fix the phone under the standard warranty terms.

Source:http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/11/2942239/htc-one-s-chipping-response

Good news guys...;)
 
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psych0t1c

Senior Member
Jul 30, 2005
215
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earth.europe.de
OK. So nothing has changed?
Er, well of course. They are aware of this now and even went through the trouble of publicly admiting it (instead of keping it under wraps und just acknorwledging it and exchanging / repairing once an individual complains). I assume they will cycle users of the first batch through the current stock via their suppliers until everyone has a phone version that does not have the chipping issue, while simultanusly the folks in Taiwan are scrambling to find a solution to improve the process to minimize returns in the next waves of production.

I am just interested to know how the suppliers will react to that. Basically HTC is working with THEIR investments and capital to go through the warranty exchange and some of them may not be happy about it or even decline that the phone was DOA (cause it hardly fits the DOA legal terms for most countries I guess).

But at least with that sort of press release you have a solid leg to stand on when you return it to your vendor. If i had / will get chipping I will prolly bite the toad and live with it for a month or three, keep my old Sensation around for that long and when the reports have calmed down (i.e. a better MAO process has been found and implemented) then return it to the vendor for an exchange into a model from a new productio batch.

I think this is the most stress free approach, cause if you go exchange now, you might draw unlucky and do this once every 10 days because you still always get a replacement phone from the first batch.
 

Untouchab1e

Senior Member
Apr 11, 2007
1,252
802
I think it's great HTC is offering to replace the affected units even if they in the press statement still almost seemingly blame the users by saying that the One S is hard to scratch, but not impossible.
 

boojay

Senior Member
Oct 15, 2010
634
164
Have there been any complaints about the grey anodized version? I really wanted to get the black MAO version due to the premium feel, but not at this expense. Besides, I actually like the blue ring camera.
 

Famagoer

New member
Oct 4, 2008
1
0
I assume, the grey version won't have any such problems as the black one s - it's just anodized, which makes it have a hard and durable surface. I guess, the MAO makes a too hard surface for the edges of the phone :confused:
 

mardon85

Senior Member
Jan 8, 2009
562
83
Manchester
Hey great news!!

Now I would like a black one. Do I speak to my store and tell them the situation and wait for the next batch or return it for a silver one and make do??
 

QuintusDias

Senior Member
Sep 16, 2010
85
8
Groningen
Good news indeed! Do you think the first batch for the netherlands (release on 27th) will already be one that doest suffer from this issue?

Sent from my GT-S5660 using XDA
 

mattionline

Senior Member
Jan 10, 2012
87
21
Good news indeed! Do you think the first batch for the netherlands (release on 27th) will already be one that doesn't suffer from this issue?

Sent from my GT-S5660 using XDA
I'm wondering the same thing.
Yesterday I changed my order to the "grey" gradient metal version because of the problems. Still I like the black one if it's more durable...
 

Untouchab1e

Senior Member
Apr 11, 2007
1,252
802
I think that's rather difficult to answer. Only HTC would know when the batches delivered were manufactured.

Sent from my Incredible S using Tapatalk 2
 

netrowdy

Member
Aug 9, 2008
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  • 7
    Does anybody has got the problem with the ceramic surface which is shown in the following pictures??

    Looks like a major problem with the production technology :-(
    7
    You have to be really dumb to release phones like this. This is not the first time HTC has done this. QA obviously sucks at HTC

    As a potential HTC One S owner I'll just inject a few words into this thread.

    Most of the people complaining and spouting their opinions on QA have no frigging clue about metallurgy or SCM.

    I have consulted for companies that design & sell 100k-1M units. There are so many steps in the process until that phone gets to your hands (at a very low price, considering the complexity!), that the mind would boggle - and sometimes it's amazing that anything works at all, ever.

    As for the coating process, I doubt that HTC mills the metal or has plasma baths in their offices. All this stuff is outsourced. And in China its hard to ensure that you get what you pay for (or specify) - Ive seen this happen with PCB laminates, components where the BOM says one thing, and a middleman will just ignore it and pocket the difference.

    Maybe the base metal was a 3003 alloy instead of a 6100, maybe it was not degreased well enough, maybe some employees handled the edges, perhaps the plasma bath was too cold, or things not given enough time to warm up due to the units/hour presure from the line manager. Moreover, unless you destructively test the devices it's very hard to spot such failures unless you decided that's what you're going to look for.

    Of course I would be disappointed when my One S has a chipping issue, but it seems like HTC is being responsible and has quickly acknowledged the issue, without telling the customers "you're holding it wrong"


    FWIW I own a HTC Desire, a Nokia N79, SE K750 and lots of old Nokias.
    4
    surface flaw, no scratch

    Have been at a surveyor. He told me this are doubtless no scratches. And indeed I did not drop my phone. On the pictures they took you can clearly see that there are no scratches aroud the affected area, which should be there if I dropped the phone.. What I think is the my reseller will tell me I am stupid if I show those very little flaws to him :eek:
    Let's hope for HTC
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    4
    Thread Cleaned

    I have cleaned some posts from the last few pages. Some of the comments are not acceptable. Further trolling will result in a infraction/ban. Do not engage trolls, just report them and let the moderation team sort the problem. In short, dont feed the trolls!​
    4
    ^^Good post psch0t1c^^

    I'm not sure about sending it back to HTC in case they do try and say I have damaged it which I KNOW I haven't. I'm inclined to wait a few more days and see if the problem becomes more widespread and HTC become more aware of the problem.

    I think we should ether do a new thread or add a poll to the OP so we can gauge how many people are affected thus far.