Oxymoron of the day: Microsoft Works
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Apple loses customers because of unreliability and AT&T
MARKETER TO THE TRENDY AND WELL-HEELED, Apple is reaping the cost of peddling a broken Iphone and forcing its customers to use AT&T, according to a survey from Piper Jaffray.
The survey of mobile phone users is the first to look at why people have not bought Apple's latest smartphone gadget. The results have given a stinging rebuff to Steve Jobs' vision for his Iphone 4.
More than 20 per cent of mobile phone users said the antenna problem on the Iphone 4 put them off from buying the thing. However more than 60 per cent said they didn't want it because of Apple's exclusive carrier contract with AT&T.
Apple has made a killing thanks to its locked-in deal with AT&T, but what the survey suggests is that it was all a terrible mistake.
If Jobs had not been so obsessed with attempting to lock his shiny toy into one carrier he would have sold more of the things, apparently.
Piper Jaffray concluded that while the faulty antenna hurt sales, its relationship with AT&T limited demand the most.
It is a little alarming really that Jobs' Mob's marketing machine is so strong that people would have bought it even knowing it was broken. It is possible that since AT&T is so unpopular they cannot bring themselves to consider that the Iphone 4 really is a bad design and have been blaming the dropped calls on the carrier instead.
According to PC World, the survey found that the Iphone 4 was dropping more calls on the AT&T network than any other phone the outfit offered.
Another consideration, said Piper Jaffray, was that many of the people polled were Blackberry users. RIM still dominates the mobile phone market in business. µ
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I will not own an iPhone because of AT&T.
They have the worst customer service in the States and they provide the worst and most expensive service.
I bought a SIM card for month to month service and they tried to charge me $186.00 for 35 days of service. I did not use any minutes as I wanted the SIM for International roaming, which I never received as they "forgot" to turn it on. Then AT&T tried to charge me for a contract cancellation fee. I never had a contract as I pruchased a SIM card to run in my inlocked phone.
Right now the FCC is reviewing this, and the U.S. Postal inspectors are reviewing this for mail fraud: charging me for services that I did not use or authorize.
Go Virgin Mobile!
That would be an F grade for your analysis.
If Apple were only about maximizing profit then they would be cutting costs on the parts. As it is the BOM seems to remain pretty constant from one generation to the next. Other than some teething problems at launch time the build quality seems to be consistent between generations also (their trademark metal and glass look is, if anything, moving towards less plastic and better quality). What they got wrong with the iPhone 4 were some software bugs and a minor design flaw with the antenna (and I do mean minor, despite the shouting from the resident haters there are some simple work-arounds and it only effects a small proportion of users).
What we seem to have is a company that is suffering from growing pains. The more experienced staff are stretched thin over the projects in the pipeline. It will take time for the newer staff to get up to full speed. Trying to manage that isn't an easy task and I don't envy the guys at Apple that have to try.
As for the cash pile that Apple have built, it's been pretty well reported that this is for growth and acquisitions. Steve and the Apple board have a plan on how they want to take the company forward and they need the cash for that plan. They've not done badly so far.
Peddling implies they are "trying" to sell the iPhone. If you check their store it still takes 3 weeks to ship so I dont think Apple is "peddling" anything. They are "selling" iPhones handily. And you based this article of a bs 250 person sampling recently published. Hold on im going to stand by the urinal for an hour at lunch and provide a better sampling for you. Try writing something with substance for once you leech hack.
This is true for a fact and I know because I am one of the statistics. I've had AT&T before and didn't like their customer service, inconsistent billing, andbad signal. I would buy an iPhone but I'm not lpeaving T-Mobile. Plus the Google phones are harass.
This is true for a fact and I know because I am one of the statistics. I've had AT&T before and didn't like their customer service, inconsistent billing, andbad signal. I would buy an iPhone but I'm not lpeaving T-Mobile. Plus the Google phones are harass.
This is true for a fact and I know because I am one of the statistics. I've had AT&T before and didn't like their customer service, inconsistent billing, andbad signal. I would buy an iPhone but I'm not lpeaving T-Mobile. Plus the Google phones are harass.
This is true for a fact and I know because I am one of the statistics. I've had AT&T before and didn't like their customer service, inconsistent billing, andbad signal. I would buy an iPhone but I'm not lpeaving T-Mobile. Plus the Google phones are harass.
Apple is suffering from success syndrome: it has had a great iPhone run but now it's products are lacking their former quality. Apple is continuing to try to innovate but also maximizing profit over quality. Recent complaints that Apple is hoarding too much cash, and the roll out of ever more advertizing software on the iOS, are examples of a cash-focused company.
Your article is somewhat misleading in that people are choosing otherwise. The survey by Piper Jaffray's Gene Munster was conducted only in Minneapolis and with 258 cell phone users. I really don't think this limited survey reflects any sort of overall tone of users.
Jobs has not chosen to simply force the AT&T agenda, rather honor an investment agreement from AT&T, as they invested in the iPhone's development and bound Apple into an exclusivity agreement. Apple had approached Verizon and Sprint, with both declining partnership early on.
Also, CDMA as it stands now, does not allow voice and data traffic to be used at the same time. Verizon has plans to fix this in their 4G network implementation.
The iPhone antennae problems mostly come from "lefties" People who hold the iPhone with their left hands. Some "righties" occasionally do this when driving (a bad habit), but both types of grips will cause some decrease in reception. I understand Apple is fixing this in a new antennae design this month or next.
Lastly, why report on an article from PC World regarding iPhones, when most of their Apple product coverage is tattered with whining that it's not Microsoft? Get a new source.
Oh, interesting tidbit. Did you know that Piper Jaffray has quite a lot of investments into Google? I wonder if that had colored the viewpoint.
Your headline is misleading, as in a big "LIE."
The iPhone is NOT Unreliable.
Why do Apple-Haters like you and your editor put out these lies? If you don't like Apple or Jobs, just say so.
But don't alter the news, don't put out misleading headlines, don't LIE.
This is journalism AT ITS WORST.
You guys are not Journalists.
You are LIARS.
With all of the latest new phones on the market, I can see why iPhone sales are slipping. I recently sold my iPhone 3G and switched to my daughter's 3Gs. I love the speed of its operation but the antenna is definitely weaker. My daughter used to complain all the time that she couldn't get a signal from her most frequently used locations, while my 3G worked perfectly. Also, the applications will suddenly close while in use. Yes, I've been updating the OS and all software, as often as updates become available. A co-worker got the new iPhone 4 and said it was even worse, that the best iPhone was the first one for reliable function. Honestly I feel ripped off and I've loved Apple since its inception. So, why are we consumers getting less than what we pay for? My daughter hated her iPhone so much she got the Samsung Captivate...much hype, good concept but she has to restart it frequently. If I paid more money (than $400) would I get a better device? Intuition says No! What is the perfect cell phone?
While AT&T is unpopular in the US they are currently the only carrier to offer a UMTS service, so it makes the point of locking moot. As and when the fabled CDMA version for Verizon appears then that problem will go away.
Nick's real foul up was in the phrase "any other phone", if he'd bothered to read the original article properly then he'd have found that they made an unscientific test of only 4 phones, two of which were iPhones. The iPhone 4 came out ahead of the 3GS (so much for it being broken) but behind two RIM and Pandigital models. Room for improvement certainly. Terrible not.
can't you at least for once do your job properly?
"According to PC World, the survey found that the Iphone 4 was dropping more calls on the AT&T network than any other phone the outfit offered."
survey didn't find anything like that! it was a test done by one of the PCW editors - not a survey.
You are clueless as always.