Apple offers free iPhone 4 cases to all users but upsets rivals in the process

 

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Posted on 19 Jul 2010 at 16:08

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs was defiant in his response to the growing criticism of the iPhone 4’s reception issues and claimed that the issue was widespread, but said he would offer every iPhone 4 user a free bumper case.

Jobs also said that customers who’d already bought a bumper case would be entitled to a full refund, but refused to offer owners of third-party cases even a partial refund. Apple later added that it would offer a full refund – including the cost of cancelling their contract – on undamaged handsets within the first 30 days of ownership if customers were still unhappy.

“Phones aren’t perfect,” read a slide from the presentation after Steve Jobs said that the issue had been “blown out of proportion”. Jobs claimed that only 0.55 per cent of iPhone 4 customers had complained to Apple about a reception issue and that return rates were less than a third of the iPhone 3GS’s in the same period – just 1.7 per cent compared to 6 per cent on the 3GS.

He told attendees that the entire mobile industry suffered from antenna problems and demoed a number of rivals’ handsets exhibiting the same behaviour if held in a certain way. HTC, Samsung and RIM were among those demoed and, understandably, they were a little peeved.

The three manufacturers, as well as Nokia – who wasn’t cited by Jobs – have issued statements following the Apple CEO’s justification for the iPhone 4’s antenna issues.

“Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable,” said RIM co-CEOs Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie in a joint statement. “Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation.”

RIM has been designing handsets for more than 20 years, said the statement. “During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for drop calls, especially in areas of low coverage.

“One thing is for certain, RIM’s customers don’t need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity,” the statement added in an obvious dig at Apple’s free bumper case offer to users having problems.

Samsung said that it hadn’t received any complaints about attenuation on the Omnia II, the Samsung handset which Jobs cited as another with ‘issues’. HTC responded by saying that the reception problems “are certainly not common among smartphones” and suggested that Apple hadn’t given operators “enough time to test the phone” before its release.

Nokia also spoke out by saying that it prioritises “antenna performance over physical design if they ever conflict,” in a statement to the Daily Telegraph.

The news conference was full of mixed messages and it wasn’t until the Q&A session that Apple offered some sort of apology to its customers – even though it was as indirect as possible. Apple said that it would re-assess the situation in September and see if call data proves that the issue has been resolved by the free bumper offer.

Author: Tim Smalley