Everything is going bad for Apple these days. In recent iPhone 4 conference, Apple tried to explain antenna issue and related problems of their newly released iPhone. Steve Jobs defended signal reception issue by showing multiple examples of different phones.
This strategy of bringing other manufacturers in the iPhone 4 antenna controversy doesn’t seem to help Apple. The manufacturers have already started bashing the Cupertino based company for pulling their names in the debacle.
HTC responded to Apple’s presentation at iPhone 4 conference by disapproving ‘common’ reception issues.
“The reception problems are certainly not common among smartphones,” HTC chief financial officer Hui-Meng Cheng said. “They (Apple) apparently didn’t give operators enough time to test the phone.”
RIM has also replied to this issue to protect their brand’s name in the world market. The company believes that Apple is unnecessary deflecting attention of end users. They have also commented on Apple’s business decisions and antenna design flaws.
“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
Nokia, the Asian mobile market leader, has also shared their views on antenna design as well as company’s strategy to build the design of mobile phone antennas.
Antenna design is a complex subject and has been a core competence at Nokia for decades, across hundreds of phone models. Nokia was the pioneer in internal antennas; the Nokia 8810, launched in 1998, was the first commercial phone with this feature.
Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying human behavior, including how people hold their phones for calls, music playing, web browsing and so on. As you would expect from a company focused on connecting people, we prioritize antenna performance over physical design if they are ever in conflict.
In general, antenna performance of a mobile device/phone may be affected with a tight grip, depending on how the device is held. That’s why Nokia designs our phones to ensure acceptable performance in all real life cases, for example when the phone is held in either hand. Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying how people hold their phones and allows for this in designs, for example by having antennas both at the top and bottom of the phone and by careful selection of materials and their use in the mechanical design.