Apple may have become well known for their great design of products and there’s no doubt that the iPhone 4 looks pretty but its reception problems may keep smarter consumers away for good, some just from the phone, while others from the company itself. While the problems the iPhone 4 currently has are somewhat understandable and excusable, Apple’s reaction really isn’t. Some people may still remember how Windows 98 gave a blue screen error on its launch. It’s clear for anyone that any form of new technology takes a lot of effort and innovation and may sometimes work less than perfect. However, trying to prove to the world that your problem is a commonly encountered problem (when it really isn’t) could be qualified as less professional. One of the companies Apple gave an example was Samsung, with their Omnia II smartphone. Compared to RIM and HTC, Samsung didn’t hurry to reply to Apple’s ‘accusations’. They did at one point make a statement regarding the whole antenna situation which sounded like this: “The antenna is located at the bottom of the Omnia 2 phone, while iPhone’s antenna is on the lower left side of the device. Our design keeps the distance between a hand and an antenna”. Shin Young-joo, the Samsung spokesman continued by saying: “We have fully conducted field tests before the rollout of smartphones. Reception problems have not happened so far, and there is no room for such problems to happen in the future”.
While the iPhone 4 reception problems aren’t new at all, some people may not remember exactly what started it all. Most users started complaining on Twitter, which has grown enough for the information to actually be passed around for half the globe to see. Hence, it’s relatively easy to find people complaining about their iPhone 4. Samsung took advantage of this and started giving out Galaxy S phones (the Europe version) to British users who encountered problems with their newly acquired Apple smartphone. As Wired UK reported, a lucky user called Tiffany simply got a free Samsung Galaxy S handset to replace her iPhone 4. Another user got a free Galaxy because he was having trouble deciding what phone to buy, a HTC Desire, iPhone 4 or Galaxy S. Well, looks like Samsung made it a lot easier for him to decide. If you think this is a pretty powerful statement from Samsung in itself, think again. Samsung has also released Galaxy S ads in the UK that say a whole lot, while using only one world : ‘hello’.
