Apple says it's not to blame for 'exploding' iPhones

Apple's iPhone may be the darling of the mobile-phone industry right now, but some users in France aren't singing its praises, claiming that the device explodes or cracks without warning.

However, after conducting an internal investigation into the cause of the broken touch-screen glass, Apple denies that there is an underlying iPhone flaw. In fact, Apple said that in all cases it investigated, some kind of force was applied to the iPhone, causing the glass to break, according to a BBC report Friday.

"The iPhones with broken glass that we have analyzed to date show that in all cases, the glass cracked due to an external force that was applied to the iPhone," Apple said in a statement cited by the BBC.

Last Tuesday, in response to a European Commission investigation into accusations of overheating and exploding iPhones, Apple referred to its internal investigation, saying, "We are waiting to receive the iPhones from the customers."

As part of its investigation, Apple also looked into complaints of the iPhone battery overheating but again said it found no problems. "To date, there are no confirmed battery-overheating incidents for iPhone 3GS, and the number of reports we are investigating is in the single digits," according to the statement.

The investigation's findings don't mean much to France's Frank Benoiton, a consumer who said his wife's iPhone cracked, and it "was not dropped and experienced no unusual shock," he told the Associated Press.

France's trade minister declined to comment on a meeting with Apple about an investigation that the country's consumer protection agency is conducting into the reports, according to Bloomberg.

The European Commission also issued a warning using its rapid-alert system, Rapex, which warns of dangerous consumer products.