Apple (AAPL) iPhone problems undermine AT&T (T) marketing

Posted Aug 29th 2008 11:28AM by Douglas McIntyre
Filed under: Competitive Strategy, Apple Inc (AAPL), AT and T (T), Sprint Nextel Corp (S), Verizon Communications (VZ)

The new Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) 3G iPhone is becoming more popular for all the wrong reasons. It drops calls and has trouble connecting to some cell carrier's high-speed wireless network.

All sorts of analysts are out in the field trying to discover what is wrong with the new product. No one has come up with an answer. But AT&T's (NYSE:T) rivals have decided to use the opportunity to attack its products and services. According to The New York Times, "A phone is only as good as the network it's on," said a full-page Verizon Wireless newspaper ad."

Even if the iPhone is only a brick with a dial pad, the challenges are off the mark. Wireless systems, including those from Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) and Sprint (NYSE:S), are full of dead spots. A set of tests of almost any cell network in the U.S. or abroad would show that dropped calls are not rare.

Verizon has decided to use something that is common to go after its competition, which is fine until someone goes out and tests its network.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Tags: AAPL, iPhone, S, T, VZ

Print this

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

8-29-2008 @ 4:12PM

Beltway Greg said...

Be still my heart. Yes, there are tons of places here in the Nation's Capitol that I don't receive any wireless love from Verizon. Let's try the Starbucks on McArthur Blvd and the neighborhood of Kalorama. Download speeds are ridiculously slow too. One thing that's very odd though, a couple of years ago I went to San Antonio and rented a car and drove to Laredo, parked said car, and walked across to the border town of Nuevo Larado. The Blackberry rocked in Mexico and I've had similar experiences north of the border not in Montreal or Toronto but many miles from any big city.
What's the deal? Why did the Blackberry work so well away from civilization and not where one would most need it? So far the IPhone has worked very well in DC though I've yet to try it in Canada or Mexico. BTW, Doug I'm going to tell Santa about your newly found friendliness towards Apple. Maybe you'll get a new IPod and a gift card so you can download some Glenn Miller tunes or perhaps some Tommy Dorsey.

Beltway Greg