My Cellphone My Terms

Apple’s rivals quick to respond to Apple’s accusations

Apple’s antenna saga continues with some strong responses by its rivals who were uninvitedly brought into the iPhone 4 antenna issues via a presentation from Steve Jobs during their press conference yesterday.  In Jobs’ presentation, Apple claimed that the iPhone antenna issues were not isolated to the iPhone but also to other cell phones (smartphones) in the industry like the BlackBerry Bold 9700, HTC Droid Eris, Samsung Omnia II and during the question and answer period highlighted Nokia phones as having similar issues.

Well as expected, the response from the manufactures of these phones was swift and pointed. RIM’s co-CEOs released a joint statement defending their designs and essentially shifting the focus back to Apple:

“Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation. RIM is a global leader in antenna design and has been successfully designing industry-leading wireless data products with efficient and effective radio performance for over 20 years. During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage. One thing is for certain, RIM’s customers don’t need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity. Apple clearly made certain design decisions and it should take responsibility for these decisions rather than trying to draw RIM and others into a situation that relates specifically to Apple.”

- Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie

HTC was a little more coy in their response, indicating that only 0.016% of customers called in for antenna related issues much lower than Apple’s 0.55% rate. Nokia also responded and in their statement they indicated that while the antenna performance of its phones may be affected by a tight grip, their phones were designed for practical use and that thousands of man hours go into the design and placement of their antennas.

So there you have it, “antennagate” continues, let’s hope that Apple will focus on its own problems and come up with a solution that puts this issue to bed.