iPhone 4 recall? Probably not.
Apple, overwhelmed with complaints about the finicky reception on the iPhone 4, will soon issue a recall for the latest iteration in its popular iPhone line – if you believe Matthew Seeger.
An iPhone 4 recall? That's not science fiction, folks – that's the real live prognostication of several top experts interviewed today by Cult of Mac, a popular tech blog devoted to all things Apple. The leader of the iPhone-4-recall-is-inevitable faction is led by Mr. Seeger, a professor at Wayne State who's billed as "an expert in crisis communication."
"Apple will be forced to do a recall of this product," Seeger told Leander Kahney of Cult of Mac. “It’s critically important. The brand image is the most important thing Apple has. This is potentially devastating." The iPhone 4 launched in June, and reviewers have given the handset high marks. But many consumers have complained that if they grip the iPhone 4 on the bottom left corner – the dreaded "death grip" – voice and data service quickly tails off.
In an open letter to iPhone 4 customers earlier this month, Apple said that the bad reception on the iPhone 4 was in part due to a simple glitch. "Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong," Apple reps wrote. The company promised that a patch for the iPhone 4 would be available soon.
So is Apple really readying an iPhone 4 recall? We doubt it. Although a recent negative report from Consumer Reports seems to have temporarily dented Apple's share price, the iPhone 4 continues to fly off shelves, and you don't recall a fast-selling item unless you absolutely have to. Apple has said that 1.7 million iPhone 4 units were unloaded in the first three days of sales alone – and demand for the handset has remained extremely high.
Moreover, a full recall would cost about $1.5 billion, according to Sanford C. Bernstein & Co analysts.
Related links:
iPhone 4 vs. Droid X: How do they compare?
iPhone 'death grip' cripples iPhone 4. Could a patch help?
