iPhone 5S with defective batteries: Apple replaces devices

Sources from across the ocean report – primarily from the pages of the New York Times – that the new iPhone 5S models have some battery issues.
Malfunctions have indeed occurred, concerning two aspects of the same component problem.
In some cases, overly long charging times have been reported.
In other circumstances, however, the issue is the reduced battery life.
The malfunction cases have naturally been reported to Apple Store staff and consequently brought to the attention of Apple, which has already responded, again through the New York Times, by issuing an official press release before the case became widely publicized, thus acting proactively and voluntarily.
It has indeed been ascertained that a very small number of iPhone 5S units are experiencing battery problems.

This appears to affect only a few thousand units and would evidently be a manufacturing defect.
Teresa Brewer, a spokesperson for Apple, stated to the New York based newspaper that customers who have reported operational anomalies with their iPhone 5S batteries are about to be contacted by Apple support, in order to collect the product and, more importantly, to provide a new iPhone 5S, this time perfectly functional and meeting customer expectations.
No specific number of defective units has been disclosed, but given the promptness of the interventions in favor of customers, it is assumed that this is a truly limited issue.