Rise & Fall Of iPhone4

Antennagate

A Case Study

By : GAURAV VIJ
 ABOUT APPLE
Apple Inc is an American multinational , designing and
marketing consumer electronics computer software and
persosal computers .

Apple Inc previously Apple Computer Inc was established on

april 1 , 1976 and incorporated on January 3 , 1977 .

Apple Inc has its headquaters in Cupertino , California .

As of september , 2009 Apple had an annual sales of $ 42.9

billion .
Apple Inc has a workforce of 34,500 employees with 284 retail
outlets in over 10 different countries .

The company is headed by Mr Steve Jobs who is the chairman

as well as the co- founder of the company .

Some famous products of Apple are :-

IPAD
IPHONE
IPOD
APPLE TV
 Early generations of the IPHONE
Apple launched the first iphone on june 29 , 2007 and it was
a huge success with the american customers and the rest
of the world.

It was launched in two variants ie an 8 gb version and 16 gb

version .

Apple sold 6.1 million handsets of the orignal iphone in over

five quarters .

At present this model is being sold at $99 and is very cheap

as compared to the orignal cost of $599 .
The next generation of the Iphone was Iphone 3GS .
It was launched in july 2009 in US , canada and major
european countries .

The GS model ws much advanced than its earlier edition .

APPLE iPhone 3GS is available in both the colors and storage

capacities .
 IPHONE 4
IPHONE 4 is the third generation of iphone after iphone 3g
and iphone 3gs .

It is considered as the sleekest and the most advanced

mobile handset ever produced by any company .

The success of the Iphone 4 can be judged from the fact that
the company has sold 3 million handsets in just 3 weeks .

This edition of Iphone is altogether different from its earlier

generation siblings in terms of looks as well as software .
Some of the features of the new Iphone 4 are
3.5 inch display
960 * 640 pixels ( 4x more )
326 pixels per inch
800 : 1 contrast ratio ( 4x better )
IP technology for superb colour and wide viewing angle
Incredibly sharp images
Retina display
And many more …….
IPHONE is available in the USA priced at $199 and $299 in contract
with AT&T .
Problems faced by Iphone 4 users
Iphone 4 users have complained of the signals going weak
when the lower left side of the handset comes in contact
of the users hand .

Most of the complaints have come from left handed users .

Holding the phone in strong five bar signal has no effects on

it but in weaker signal area it results in call drop .

As a matter of fact 50 % of the calls get dropped .

Complains surfaced within hours of the launch.

Experts have suggested that the antenna is losing signals

because the direct contact with the users hand alters the
way the antenna behaves .
 Achievement

It took the original iPhone, which first went on sale three

years ago after a six-month lead time, 74 days to pass the
one-million mark.

“iPhone 4 did it in 3 days”

 The Problem

“The signal can significantly degrade enough to

cause you to lose your connection altogether if
you're in an area with a weak signal once your
palm touches lower left side of the iPhone 4”

- iPhone Fan Blog

 1st Strike
Apple already knew about Signal loss problem.

Customers voices were left unheard.

Apple shrugged and declared iPhone 4 as the most perfect

phone ever.

Till June end, apple never accepted that iPhone 4 was

flawed.

Apple made a mockery of Customer`s Response.

 Strike 2
Blame game was played by Mr. Jobs.

Faulty software was blamed for Call Drop and Signal loss.

Still hardware was not tested for errors.

A Software Fix, was announced for apple iPhone4`s

operating system iOS4.

Apple denied any complaints from masses.

 Apple`s Say

“Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation

of its antenna performance, with certain places being
worse than others depending on the placement of the
antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If
you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid
gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers
both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply
use one of many available cases.”
 Strike 3 ( The Press Conference )
Delayed Strategic Move.

Apple accepted their Handsets ( iPhone4 ) was flawed and

defective.

New external antenna was Blamed.

Other Market Leader were targeted to hide iPhone4`s

defects.

Late resolute were provided to the Consumers.

 “It doesn't seem like a good thing if
you can touch your phone in a certain
way and it loses signal. It turns out,
it's not unique to the iPhone 4”.

Steve Jobs ( July 16 )

CEO (Apple Inc. )
 Cheap Shot
“Apple may have calmed some of the Antennagate ruckus
with his spirited defense of the iPhone 4 on Friday, but
he also stirred up a hornet's nest of response from other
phone manufacturers, including RIM, Samsung,
Motorola, Nokia, and HTC”.

- Consumer Forum
 Conclusion
This entire fiasco has dented the image of apple a great deal .

Apple was always known for the perfection they had in their products .

The confidence about the product quality that the apple customers had
will get dropped and it will show its negative impact on the sales of
iphone 4 and future products of apple .

The accusations between Apple , AT&T and the other mobile companies
will continue for a long time but its on Apple now to formulate new
statergies to bounce back and regain the lost ground .

Experts say that the entire fault in this Antennagate issue is of apple as
they dint test the product well in the practical environment before
launching it .
 Future steps by Apple

Steve Jobs should focus entirely on improving the next lot of

handsets of Iphone 4 .

Already over 3 million faulty handsets have been sold in the

market .

Other than providing bumper and case Apple should be

providing special offers to their existing customers so that
they are still able to retain their confidence and trust .

Steve Jobs should learn from this incident that a product

should never be pushed in the market in a hurry .