A number of you are claiming that at&t's 1.7% return rate for iPhone 4 early shipment (returns to the Apple store are even lower per Jobs during the Q&A) is very deceptive considering that it hasn't been out for 30 days and people are still eligible for a return. Here are some reasons why the return rate won't change dramatically once the 30 day window is up.
1. Those who found the iPhone 4 totally unusable weren't going to hold out 3 weeks for a fix before returning it. They have returned them already and are among at&t's 1.7% or whatever the (lower) return rate to the Apple store is.
2. Apple has said there is no design flaw or defect. There is no "recall" so nobody is going to return their working iP4s.
3. Those whose iPhone 4s work just fine when in a case are going to keep them cased, regardless of whether they drop signals like flies when naked, simply because there are not any better alternatives out there and it's difficult to return to ordinary screen once you've gotten accustomed to the retina display. Apple's giving away free case and the perception that the iP4 "They call me Mr. Glass" screen and glass back shatter and scratch like crazy are only going to motivate more people to case it.
4. The press conference was a form of damage control by Apple to tell the news media to STF U and the media hysteria surrounding the iP4's problems will die down in the coming weeks, driving fewer people to return their otherwise fine iP4s.
5. Apple has promised a software fix for the faulty proximity sensor (which is the source of some of the early returns).
The only thing that might temporarily drive the return rate up right before 30 days would be caused by dishonest people with black iP4 holding out for the white iP4.
1. Those who found the iPhone 4 totally unusable weren't going to hold out 3 weeks for a fix before returning it. They have returned them already and are among at&t's 1.7% or whatever the (lower) return rate to the Apple store is.
2. Apple has said there is no design flaw or defect. There is no "recall" so nobody is going to return their working iP4s.
3. Those whose iPhone 4s work just fine when in a case are going to keep them cased, regardless of whether they drop signals like flies when naked, simply because there are not any better alternatives out there and it's difficult to return to ordinary screen once you've gotten accustomed to the retina display. Apple's giving away free case and the perception that the iP4 "They call me Mr. Glass" screen and glass back shatter and scratch like crazy are only going to motivate more people to case it.
4. The press conference was a form of damage control by Apple to tell the news media to STF U and the media hysteria surrounding the iP4's problems will die down in the coming weeks, driving fewer people to return their otherwise fine iP4s.
5. Apple has promised a software fix for the faulty proximity sensor (which is the source of some of the early returns).
The only thing that might temporarily drive the return rate up right before 30 days would be caused by dishonest people with black iP4 holding out for the white iP4.
