"We're Not Perfect" Apple CEO
Says, Offering Free Case And Refunds To
iPhone 4 Buyers
SAN FRANCISCO - Apple Inc. on Friday said it
will give iPhone 4 users free protective
cases to address the smartphone's signal
problem. Apple CEO Steve Jobs made the
announcement at a press conference held at
the company's headquarters in Cupertino,
California.
"Every iPhone user is going to get a case.
There will be refunds to people that already
got a bumper," he said.
The protective case, or so-called bumper,
now sells at us$29 dollars on Apple's
website. The free cases will be provided to
all iPhone 4 buyers through the end of
September.
After iPhone 4 went on sale on June 24,
consumers have been complaining of a drop in
reception when they hold the phone in a
certain manner.
At Friday's press conference, Jobs said that
one reason the new phone has had more
problems is that fewer people have cases in
the new model, and old cases don't fit.
In addition to the free case, Apple already
released an update to its iPhone operating
system on Thursday.
Apple earlier blamed the reception problem
on a wrong method to calculate signal
strength, and promised to fix the glitch
with software updates.
Jobs said that if customers are still not
happy, they can bring their iPhone 4 back
within 30 days of purchase.
"We're not perfect," The CEO said. "It is a
challenge for the phone industry, and we are
all doing the best that we can."
While Jobs emphasized that the reception
issue was not exclusive only to the iPhone
4, demonstrating signal strength loss in
other phone models such as the Blackberry
and HTC phones when held in certain ways, he
acknowledged that the newest iPhone model
did have more dropped calls than its
predecessor, the iPhone 3GS.
The iPhone 4 drops less than one additional
call per 100 than the iPhone 3GS, said Jobs.
He also revealed that the return rate of the
iPhone 4 to AT&T, the phone's exclusive U.S.
wireless carrier, was 1.7 percent, lower
than the 6 percent return rate for the
iPhone 3GS.
The offering of free cases came as Apple is
facing mounting pressures over the iPhone
signal issue, which has been nicknamed "
death grip" by bloggers.
On Monday this week, influential product
review magazine Consumer Reports said it
could not recommend the iPhone 4 before
Apple comes up with a permanent fix for the
antenna problem.
"Consumers deserve answers and fairness.
Providing free bumpers and cases is a good
first step toward Apple identifying and
finding a solution for the signal-loss
problem of the iPhone 4," Consumer Reports
said in a statement issued Friday after
Apple's press conference. |
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