I hope all goes well for this developer. I understand that we only hear about the horror stories, but with thousands of apps being submitted each week, why the hell has Apple only invested in 40 people to review them??!!!
There should be 500 people reviewing apps, it's not like Apple doesn't have the ca$h...
So far, I've had one app approved (although the first version was initially rejected), and one that went into limbo - the old 'unfortunately it will take longer than usual to approve' line. Ultimately, it was rejected twice and I've given up on it, even though in my second submission I removed the features that they told me the first time would stop it from getting approved. My next app is currently in approval - I just hope there are no issues there.
Please let's not defend this abysmal approval system. It's improved a lot since it first launched, don't get me wrong, but it sounds like it's a simple resourcing issue. Don't forget that, despite Steve Jobs' initial comments to the contrary, the app store is a significant money-maker for Apple. Also, spare a thought for all the apps that hardly make a buck. Apple witholds payment in any territory until it accumlates more than $250 before paying the developer. How many app developers will never be paid for royalties in certain territories? It all adds up. Not to mention the money they make on investing your [the developer's] money between the time they collect it at point of sale and the 2 months later when they pay you (like a bank!). Come on Apple, employ more people - there's no excuse!!
