Free Republic

There are bad reviews and then there are bad reviews. Apple, the technology company, has seen over £6.5bn wiped off its value after an influential US magazine criticised the latest version of its iPhone. [excerpt] Speculation was mounting last night that Apple might be forced to issue a recall, an unheard of scenario for a company feted by investors and technology experts. Apple’s share price fell by as much as 4.2pc, wiping $9.9bn (£6.5bn) of its market value at one stage, although it recovered some ground as US stock markets headed higher. [excerpt] Apple did not respond to the review...

According to documents leaked to Boy Genius Report today, AppleCare representatives are being given a strong company line to deliver to unhappy iPhone 4 owners who complain about reception issues. Employees are told to say that the device’s reception performance “is the best we have ever shipped” and that its critical antenna flaws are “a fact of life in the wireless world.” They are told not to perform service on iPhones with these problems and instead to give customers a PR-driven recitative instead. In a nutshell, Apple knows the phone has problems but will insist that users are simply “holding...