ZTE ZMAX sales halted by T-Mobile and MetroPCS as customers try to hack into the battery

T-Mobile has announced that it has halted sales of the ZTE ZMAX through its branded stores. The phone also has been suspended from being sold via T-Mobile's MetroPCS subsidiary. All inventory of the handset has been pulled and placed inside each store's safe, along with any point of sale promotional material. An internal memo sent to T-Mobile and MetroPCS stores says that these actions are being taken "until further notice."

You might think that perhaps sales of the device were not up to snuff, and that is why the phone was pulled. But a source inside ZTE told PCMag a different reason today. This insider said that T-Mobile was forced to suspend sales of the ZTE ZMAX because customers were prying open the back of the unit to pull out the non-removable battery. Since no glue is employed, the back cover is easy to take off once the clips that hold it on are removed.

Apparently, T-Mobile complained to ZTE about the ease in which its customers are gaining access to the 3400mAh cell. Obviously, there is some potential of injury. ZTE is said to be scratching its head over this situation for two reasons. One, the manufacturer is trying to figure out a way to keep ZTE ZMAX owners out of the battery compartment. And secondly, ZTE is trying to figure out the motive as to why owners of the phone would do such a thing. The two are not as mutually exclusive as you might think. If the manufacturer can figure out the reason why people would want to hack into the battery compartment, it might be able to better develop a way to keep ZMAX owners from removing the non-removable back cover.


source: TmoNews, PCMag