16
Jul
2010
Apple iPhone 4: Too Costly to Recall
Apple is willing to risk their public reputation by admitting the fault with the iPhone 4, but they are far from taking in a major financial blow just to have all existing devices repaired. Already, there are at least 1.7 million iPhone 4 handsets already out in the market. And that number does not include the devices that are still in shipping or are currently in stock across retailers and online stores all over the world.
However, a major design flaw in the device exists: the antenna was not designed properly. According to many owners of the iPhone 4, there is a strong possibility for calls to be dropped if the user accidentally touches a portion of the metallic band around the edge of the device during a call. Touching this specific spot will cause the handset to lose all reception.
While there are various solutions that other users are offering, Apple is staying neutral about the whole thing refusing to offer anything more than a software update that would alter the way the handset displays the signal strength meter. As for actually coming out with a fix for the hardware, there is still plenty left to be done.
A recall would cost Apple a total of 980 million Pounds. That is far more than any company would be willing to shell out for recalls –especially on a global scale. This also means that the parts to be repaired would need to be replaced by Apple for free as well.
In the meanwhile, it seems that Apple is losing ground over this matter. In the past couple of days, the stock value of Apple has gone down significantly, a significant development for Apple as the company has been continuously growing over the years. While Apple will not be taking any iPhones back, expect to see other solutions being offered in the days to come.
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