In some quarters, the  iPhone is losing its rosy glow. Service shortfalls by AT&T have begun to rub off on Apple, and recent App Store hassles have people questioning what’s up with Apple.

The iPhone is on a roll. Sales are up, even in a bad economy. It seems to be gaining a little ground in the corporate environment. It just closed the big deal in China. Apple stock prices are up, mainly on the broad back of the iPhone. It looks like everything is coming up roses for Apple and its mobile platform. But are there storm clouds on the horizon?

The grumblings of user discontent with the network service provided by AT&T seem to have gone from a quiet distant distant growl to a persistent rumble, like a seamless thunderstorm, according to a Washington Post story. It seems that everyone has at least one horror story to tell about AT&T service. Dropped calls. Poor call quality. Excessive searching for a good connection on a shaky infrastructure. Excessive battery drain cause by said searching. No service or very poor service at an event. There seems to be no end to the ways in which AT&T is a distant second (or fourth) to Verizon.

All of these shortfalls add a little more tarnish to the iPhone image. The user can’t see the network. What the user sees is the object in his or her hand: the iPhone handset. Sure, they know that it’s really AT&T. But the problems are bound to rub off on Apple. Besides, Apple selected AT&T and they show signs of sticking with them even after all the problems. People are not going to want to put up with Apple’s bad service provider choices forever.

Plus, the Apple App Store snafus are starting to add up in the public mind. Apps that shake babies to death. Apps that mock religion. Apps that come and go. The rejection of apps that you really want on your iPhone, like Google Voice. And worst of all is the seeming capricious nature of all of these escapades. It seems like no one is in control of the app store, and if there is someone in control they have severe psychological problems. That is making developers nervous, sure, but it is also making consumers take a second look at Apple, and they don’t always like what they see.

Yes, Apple is riding high. Once upon a time, General Motors was king of their particular hill, too. Then, a series of spectacularly bad business and public relations decisions started them on a long, slow spiral into the automotive toilet. Apple needs to be careful that bad decisions about cellular service providers and mystifying App Store decisions don’t multiply and send the iPhone the way of the Impala.

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 at 3:32 pm under International, Opinion, iPhone.  Print This Post

Read more entries by Michael W. Jones.
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