RIM issued a joint statement from their half-CEOs, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, in response:
Apple’s attempt to draw RIM into Apple’s self-made debacle is unacceptable. Apple’s claims about RIM products appear to be deliberate attempts to distort the public’s understanding of an antenna design issue and to deflect attention from Apple’s difficult situation. RIM is a global leader in antenna design and has been successfully designing industry-leading wireless data products with efficient and effective radio performance for over 20 years. During that time, RIM has avoided designs like the one Apple used in the iPhone 4 and instead has used innovative designs which reduce the risk for dropped calls, especially in areas of lower coverage. One thing is for certain, RIM’s customers don’t need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity. Apple clearly made certain design decisions and it should take responsibility for these decisions rather than trying to draw RIM and others into a situation that relates specifically to Apple.
MacDailyNews Take: The evidence on Apple’s website proves otherwise. And, yes, when it comes to running a smartphone maker, two heads obviously aren’t better than one.
Beleaguered Nokia also issued a statement:
Antenna design is a complex subject and has been a core competence at Nokia for decades, across hundreds of phone models. Nokia was the pioneer in internal antennas; the Nokia 8810, launched in 1998, was the first commercial phone with this feature.
Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying human behavior, including how people hold their phones for calls, music playing, web browsing and so on. As you would expect from a company focused on connecting people, we prioritize antenna performance over physical design if they are ever in conflict.
In general, antenna performance of a mobile device/phone may be affected with a tight grip, depending on how the device is held. That’s why Nokia designs our phones to ensure acceptable performance in all real life cases, for example when the phone is held in either hand. Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying how people hold their phones and allows for this in designs, for example by having antennas both at the top and bottom of the phone and by careful selection of materials and their use in the mechanical design.
MacDailyNews Take: Again, the evidence on Apple’s website proves otherwise.
UPDATE: 9:40am EDT: Well, that didn’t take long. The sucker parade continues:
HTC CFO Hui-Meng Cheng:
“The reception problems are certainly not common among smartphones. They (Apple) apparently didn’t give operators enough time to test the phone.”
MacDailyNews Take: Again, the evidence on Apple’s website proves otherwise.
Jung-Ah Lee and Ting-I Tsai report for The Wall Street Journal that Samsung said “the company ‘hasn’t received significant customer feedbacks on any signal reduction issue for the Omnia II.'”
MacDailyNews Take: In other words, a non-answer. Here’s some feedback, Samsung: The laws of physics apply to everyone.
Apple has now successfully changed the conversation and already two four suckers have taken the bait, hook, line, and sinker. We await the rest of the also-ran smartphone makers’ responses or stony silences with bated breath. Better start looking for another FUD talking point, iPhone roadkill, present and future.