Kicking off by saying "We're not perfect. We know that, you know that. And phones aren't perfect either," Steve Jobs appeared at a hastily called press conference Friday morning to address complaints about the iPhone 4's reception issues.
However, he promised, "We want to make all of our users happy. If you don't know that about Apple, you don't know Apple. We love making our users happy."
After touting the wonders of the iPhone and sharing some statistics, he said, he'd tell everyone how Apple is going to deal with its unhappy customers. Jobs said Apple has sold more than 3 million of the devices.
Calling the iPhone 4 "perhaps the best product we've ever made at Apple," Jobs said, "It has the highest customer satisfaction rating of any iPhone and any smartphone out there."
In fact, he said, a mere 0.55 percent of customers have called Apple Care to complain about the antenna or reception problems with their iPhone 4. And AT&T's return rate so far, under its "no questions asked" policy, Jobs said, has been 1.7 percent for the iPhone 4, vs. about 6 percent for the previous iPhone 3GS.
After what Jobs dubbed "Antennagate" — the reception glitch revealed about three weeks ago — he promised Apple had not had its "head in the sand" and that engineers had been working on the problem. He also said the reception dropoff is "not unique to iPhone 4."
Engadget has some nice photos of Jobs demonstrating that other models of mobile phone have similar issues with reception bars dropping depending on how the device is held while in use. Other devices he mentioned include the BlackBerry Bold 9700 and the Samsung Omnia II. This proves, he said, that "smartphones have weak spots."
Jobs then went off on an in-depth discussion of testing, algorithms and other technical data sure to put all but the most dedicated Apple geek to sleep … Meanwhile, everyone else was waiting for him to get to the fix.
WIthout giving out absolute numbers, Jobs said that although the iPhone 4 is better than the 3GS (in his opinion), it did drop less than one call more per 100 than the 3GS, according to AT&T data. (However, whether that's 10 vs. 9, or 82 vs. 81, he wasn't saying).
"Less than one. Even that's too much for us," he told the audience. "I have my own pet theory on this," which had to do with the 3Gs vs. the 3G. The newer phone didn't change its design from the old phone, so there were plenty of cases available to fit it. The iPhone 4 has a radically new design, however, so the existing cases don't fit, and Apple can't keep up with the demand for bumper cases.
Finally, the fix! Although Jobs emphasizes again that it's a small number of users who are experiencing the glitch, every iPhone 4 buyer will receive a free bumper case from Apple. (Those who already bought them — from Apple, not third-party vendors — will get refunds.)
Also, the latest software update, out now, will fix the problem of how the reception bars report signal strength and other bugs.
For all phones purchased through Sept. 30 (Jobs later said that date was because by then Apple should have a better idea), buyers can get their free bumper case via the Apple website, starting late next week.
Because Apple can't manufacture them all itself, consumers will have a choice of models.
And if that isn't enough, consumers have 30 days to return the phone for a full refund, no questions asked.
Public relations crisis averted! Now about that stock price… (In the Q&A, Jobs said: "To investors, you know, you invest in the company we are, so if the stock goes down $5 … I don't think I owe them an apology.")
Other updates from Jobs:
— White iPhone will start shipping at the end of this month.
— Apple is tracking problems with the phone's proximity sensor and will address those.
— Another 17 countries will get the iPhone 4 on July 30, excluding South Korea for some reason, but including Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain and Switzerland.
Jobs concluded by saying, "When we fall short, we … try … harder." It's all about the user, he promises, and Apple loves its users!
Smartphones have issues, he reiterates, but the iPhone 4 is still "the best smartphone in the world." And now for some questions.
