After CEO Steve Jobs opened up the Apple press conference with optimistic announcements on their sales figures, they proceeded to deny that their phone is the only one having issues and that any phone will lose signal if held a certain way. Jobs said that the tests they have done internally with other phones prove that Apple is not the only one with the problem with the reception "Death Grip." He admitted that that the display of the bars was making the drop look a lot more drastic than it really was, and that the software update has fixed that.
According to Jobs, AppleCare has logged that only 0.55% of users have complained about iPhone issues. He claimed that the media is overblowing the problem, and that the customers are really happy. If people had a problem with the phone, AT&T has a great return policy, and the return rates are less than 1/3 less of the previous iPhone. He admitted that the iPhone 4 drops more calls than iPhone 3GS, but that it has nothing to do with the advanced antenna. Jobs said that more people bought cases at the same time they purchased the iPhone 3GS, and that's why they dropped less calls.
At the end, he announced that everyone will get a free case if you buy a phone through Sept. 30th. If you bought a case, you'll be given a full refund. After that, Jobs promised a fix for the phone. You will be able to pick the case of your choice from the website, and it will be sent free of charge. A financial analyst tells Neowin that the bumpers will cost Apple 45 million dollars.
Apple's stock has been fluctuating since the beginning of the conference, but it looks like it's going up now. At the end of the conference, Jobs advertised the other products in the Apple line up, and departed on an optimistic note about the company and its products.
In the post-event Q&A, Jobs said that the reason that attendees couldn't perform the "death grip" on campus is because there is very good coverage on campus. "We have both an AT&T and Verizon tower on campus." This statement is causing controversy as speculation abounds over Apple possibly giving the iPhone line to Verizon.
Jobs denied the claim by Bloomberg that a high ranking antenna designer told him about the antenna issue during testing. He said that he spoke to the engineer and he agrees that it was false.
in response to a question about an apology to investors, Jobs said that if the price drops $5, he doesn't owe investors an apology.
He said at the end that he's deeply sorry about the problems people are having with reception, that people will have the same problems with other smartphones, and that because they care about customers, they will be giving everybody with an iPhone 4 a free case.
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