PR Experts Say Apple Will Be Forced to Issue an iPhone 4 Recall
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Posted July 13, 2010 at 2:28pm by iClarified
PR Experts say Apple will be forced to issue an iPhone 4 recall over reception problems that occur when touching a spot on the lower left of the device.
CultofMac contacted several experts in the field of public relations who had this to say:
Apple will be forced to do a recall of this product, said Professor Matthew Seeger, an expert in crisis communication. Its critically important. The brand image is the most important thing Apple has. This is potentially devastating.
Apple needs to put this fire out now, said Dr. Larry Barton, a leading expert in crisis management and author of Crisis Leadership Now. There has to be a military-like response to this issue. And we have not seen this kind of urgency. Their response has been lackluster, he said. Its been borderline irresponsible. They are in danger of betraying customers trust and hurting the brand, which is infinitely more valuable than any one product.
Its the half-loaf approach, says Chris Lehane, who was a PR manager for the Clinton Administration. Apple was under tremendous pressure to respond. They pushed out some information that wasnt really baked. They found themselves in a hole, and they dug a deeper hole, he said. You acknowledge it; you address it; you deal with it, Lehane said. Apple must protect its brand image, its crown jewels, at all cost. Apple has enormous consumer loyalty but it depends on whether people believe its credible.
Prof. Seeger, who is chair of the Department of Communication at Wayne State University in Detroit thinks Apple will likely delay a recall, and may issue a temporary patch such as free bumpers. However, a recall is unavoidable. Apple lives and dies by its reputation, he said. We pay a premium for its products. We expect them to operate on a premium level. Its very unfortunate, but they will have no choice but to mount a recall.
The pressure on Apple to respond in an appropriate manner has increased today after Consumer Reports independently verified a hardware problem and would not recommend the device.
I have 16gb 4 sim free in uk. When I'm touching that "problem spot" even with palm, it drops couple bars but if I continuing to hold it like that bars are coming back! I'm commuting daily by train 2 hours a day and I'm using iPhone all that time to browse net and making calls so I can compare. So far I can tell - definitely better coverage than on my 3GS.
Hmmm... I have a US locked iPhone 4 in New Zealand (expensive to use it here, but worth it) and if I try really hard I can get a bar or two to drop. I've never had a call drop either here or in the US, though! My experience so far is that the benefits of 4 over 3GS far outweigh the costs. Daylight second for me!
I m a long time fan of apple. Recentely purchase iphone 4 from us. Lotta problem, m really turn off & sold iphone 4 at half price. It's not worth carrying hardware problem. Apple brand thumbs down.
iPhone 4 user on o2 in the Uk and no problems here! Covered antenna like you tube videos and didn't even loose one bar! Maybe a problem with AT&T in the us.
Don't see many complaints from general iPhone 4 user just a lot of critics who always like to moan. Don't be put off buying if u have the cash from someone that never listens to critics, hey best films are the ones that get bad reviews lol
From my iPhone 4
TRY and TRY and TRY
But I have not been able to replicate this reported problem whether I have 5 or 1 bars showing!
Maybe these people have the phone stuck up their ___ ?
It happens on mine in areas that I already knew were poor 3g reception sites to start with. Compared to my old 3g, my Wi-Fi reception is significantly better, however.
I am using a factory unlocked iPhone 4 (from UK) in India. Surprisingly there is no signal drop regardless of where I place my fingers or which hand I hold it in. I have also tried to squeeze the antennas but the signal does not drop. I have tried this on 4 phones and there is no problem. The reception strength is as good (or as bad) as my previous 3GS.
My guess is the device is only flawed when it operates on GSM 850/1900 Mhz which is for US. In India or most parts of Europe, Middle East and Asia we use GSM 900.
Can some European or Asian users verify my experience?
...oh worry not, after the first lawsuit against the
for failed 911 and emergency calls against Att and Mapple, Att will drop the ball on Mapple and then jsutice will be served!!!
I Too was going to upgrade to the new iphone 4 from a 3gs but now i will just sit and wait i would rather wait and pay for something thats going to work. My 3gs works great no issues.
Other products also good and work perfectly. if iphone 4 have hardware problem, just avoid it or use 3GS or other product like HTC is better. In the future, apple brand would be down due to customers complains and by that time you guy may realise that other products also good to use.
Apple will probably do nothing. Thney don't give a shit about hte consumer as seen by the lack of response to the issue. It's sad because they have a great product.
Sorry if denial is when your phone works great, I guess I have denial. I know there are problems but maybe your in the minority not me. If it was 2 million people with no reception the blogs would have a lot more post than I have seen. Really probable 50% of the posters on most blogs don't have iPhones, they just want to chime in on the hate. I think it's a obsession now with people to watch the bars. Take it back if you have a problem, I live in one of the biggest cities and work all the way across town and since launch day I have had one drop call, a lot better than my 3GS. So get mad at people because they say they don't have a problem, guess what we don't. It's you and probable about 5 to 10 percent of iPhone 4 users, once again take it back.
Apple probably WON'T do anything until the FTC or some other federal authority demands that they come in and play in Stevie's Sandbox.
One thought... could this be delaying the release of the White iPhone 4? Naw....
I have a 3GS and i works great. I was going to upgrade but have decided to wait and see how Apple handles this issue. I was even starting to think of moving over to a mac.. but unless they're able to 'wow' me with the iphone 4 problem I'm hesitant.
You shouldn't have to comprise.