French iPhone user seeks expert probe into 'explosion'

(courtesy of Apple)

A French businessman who claims the screen of his iPhone shattered spontaneously has asked a court to appoint an independent expert to investigate the device's safety, his lawyer said Friday.

Lawyers for Apple, which makes the popular smart phone, and Bouygues, which markets it in France, opposed the call, noting that the alleged incident is the subject of a police fraud inquiry, lawyer Patrick Luciani added.

"My client wants a neutral expert to tell him what caused this problem and tell him whether he can continue to use this type of telephone," Luciani said, after lodging a motion at the commercial court in the southern city of Cannes.

Several French iPhone users have claimed in recent months that touchscreens have exploded, including one who claimed to have been hurt by flying glass, but the manufacturer insists there is no evidence of a design flaw.

French authorities have launched an investigation into the reports, but no evidence has yet been found that the phones are liable to explode without the application of an "external force", the firm has said.

The worldwide cult success of the iPhone helped California-based Apple post a massive quarterly net profit of 1.76 billion dollars last month, despite the global economic downturn.

The Cannes court is to rule on Luciani's suit on December 3.