The average American travels very little. I travel internationally ~180 days of the year and I can assure you, maps outside the USA is a serious problem for me. Tokyo is a joke as is the rest of Japan. London is a joke. Paris is a joke. These places aren't Slackjaw, Alabama or Broken Bow, Oklahoma- they are key centers for business travelers like me.
And the Google web app does not cut it, especially if, like me, you don't want to log into Google on principle.
These are places with a significant market for the iPhone 5 and this problem is a very big one for those of us who use maps 80% more than the average user. The Great Unwashed don't have a problem because they don't use the app much.
The crux of the problem is, it worked fine before, and now it's broken. "Upgrading" to a broken item is intensely nettlesome for people who use these devices seriously- which isn't most of the people who say it's not a problem.
I don't doubt it will get better, but for Apple to drop Google before their mapping app was ready for prime time was a major cockup for a company with the resources of Apple.
In the words of Steve Jobs, Apple isn't perfect. Smartphones aren't perfect. But breaking something that works well because of corporate anger toward a competitor was stupid.
So I applaud Cook for admitting it. That shows character, which helps with restoring faith. It was smart to admit the problem.