You dont consider 32% of iPhone's having this issue a big deal? Its a HUGE deal. If it were 2-5% then yes, not a big concern, but 32%?
The point is that I'm betting of that 32%, there is a decent amount that never would have even noticed if they hadn't been told about it.
I know I wouldn't have (mine does it but it doesn't disconnect the call and honestly you have to try to get it to reproduce the problem. Sometimes it will lose some bars, a few times I got it to lose all bars but it never lost connection entirely, and many times it either would lose just a bar or do nothing).
Some people wouldn't hold hte phone in a way that causes it to lose connection so they'd never notice. And honestly, how hard is it to learn how to hold it differently? Yes, it's annoying. No, you shouldn't have to have a case or hold it differently.
On top of that it doesn't mean the phone can't make a call like some people are crying about (even going as far as saying, "What if you are in an emergency and need the phone?" It can still call out! It's just annoying). It means you have to compromise something to use it. For some people, it's not an option (they don't want to hold it differently and hte phone isn't worth it nor do they want to have a case). And for them, I say don't get the phone or return it. Apple will get the message and decide if it is worth fixing it.
For some people, they like the phone enough they're willing to make a compromise (I'd fall in this catagory if it affected my calls and now I'm paranoid of dropping it with all the shatter stories and hte fact that State Farm won't insure cellphones anymore I have a case on it anyways. So I compromised for a different reason as I originally didn't want to put a case on it).
So, yes, it is an issue. Yes, I'd be very happy to see Apple fix it. No, I don't think it's as horrible as people make it out to be. When I first heard about it, I was afraid it was it lost connection if you touched the antenna at all (that's a lot more of a compromise on how you can hold it). I was relieved to learn it was just one corner as it honestly isn't that hard to learn to avoid that corner. I shouldn't have to but you know what, flaws happen.
What is getting annoying is people acting like this means Apple is the most evil company out there or that they are entitled to stuff like free macbooks cause of the flaw(yes, I saw some one seriously propoes that in one thread). They are entitled to Apple fixing the flaw. And if not, if it really upsets them, they can vote with their money. I realize that some people are upset caues they want to like the item and this is ruining it for them (and they don't want to have to give up on it). To them I say, give Apple some time to actually come up with a fix. And if not, sorry, you're going to have to make a choice on if it is worth it or if the phone isn't worth it and you are going to vote with your money elsewhere.