> I would think that a replaceable battery also extends the life of the device in general for people who don't necessarily need the latest and greatest every ye

> I would think that a replaceable battery also extends the life of the device in general for people who don't necessarily need the latest and greatest every year or two, since it's easy to just buy a new one and pop it in when the old one starts to lose its ability to hold a charge. This while logical turns out to not be true. Most (99.99%) people will never buy a new battery for a phone. Instead, they might sell the phone to a store which may refurbish it or give the phone to a friend or family member who dosen't need the latest phone. In the latter case the lack of battery life is typically irrelevant as the user is using the phone all the time anyways.