Why doesn't Apple come out with an OEM indestructible case for the Iphone?

They want you to break the phone and buy another one.

They don’t do accessories. It’s not their bag :-P

There’a a whole ecosystem of companies who are very, very happy to make iPod cases, docks, FM transmitters, chargers, etc. All those companies will do what they can to promote iPod sales, too. It’s an unpaid auxiliary sales force.

Very smart, a win-win for both parties.

Because they’d sell less replacement iPhones.

It’s a simple problem of economics and return on investment, as well as Adam Smith’s famous directive that “nations” (let’s say “companies” in this case) should emphasize their own comparative advantage.

Apple owns the iPhone. Period. No one else can make an iPhone, so Apple’s ‘comparative advantage’ is in… developing, improving, manufacturing and marketing the iPhone. When they invest to grow their capacity, they invest to “improve and make more iPhones”. That’s for starters.

To follow up on that, the iPhone (since only Apple can make it—or will make it, because they won’t license it to anyone else) is a higher-margin product than any case that could be purchased as an accessory for it.

There are a lot of case manufacturers. It’s a wide-open field, with a lot of competition. Even if Apple were to make “the absolute best” case for the iPhone, it probably wouldn’t be a big money-maker (it certainly wouldn’t have the margins or even the same sales volume as the iPhone), because not everyone needs “the best possible case”. People shop for cases (if they even have one) on whatever criteria matter to them: price, style, durability, or some combination of those factors and others.

Why would Apple want to dedicate any of its resources to making a low-cost, low-margin, low-volume seller in a wide-open market… when they could put those resources to better returns making more iPhones, or developing the next big thing for them?

They’d be fools to do as you suggest; and their investors (including myself) would howl with protest and dump the stock, looking for better management elsewhere.

It’s odd, they have never gotten into the accessory business… until now. With the iPad out, Apple has created a bunch of add-ons/accessories for it. From docks to cases, all Apple brand. Maybe they care more about iPad than the iPhone/iPodTouch.

Apple does make a handful of accessories for the iPad but I wouldn’t exactly call it a bunch. A dock, a case that’s actually pretty lame, the card reader… what am I missing?

@netgrrl that case is crazy popular, actually.

and, @all, let’s face it, if apple had a case they gave away with the phone, people would complain about it. it doesn’t have this color, it doesn’t have that color. it’s not rubbery, it’s not hard. it’s this it’s that.

the case is a matter of taste and personal style. and some people choose to not use a case at all.

maybe this is an open shut case

Because they have designed the iPhone to look good. They don’t want you to hide the thing a way in a case. They want you to be careful with the thing.

Arent cases typically made for iPhones and iPods to prevent scratches. The devices themselves are pretty durable, I’ve dropped both many times.

I’d imagine if a fall is bad enough it would break the device if it has a case on it or not.

There are two cases that really work- one is a clear case that can be left on but can’t be dropped in water. The other one is made by Otter Box- it truly is indestructible and can be dropped in water. I’m a klutz and drop it often, so I know that it works! I found it at Microcenter. It even has a belt clip, so you always know where your IPhone is.