Several bloggers are now doing their own informal research, and some tech sites like Engadget and Tech Crunch are as well. The verdict: almost no one who owns an iPhone 4 considers this a big enough deal to either return the unit or fail to recommend it to others. Which means the perpetuation of the story is just FUD being spread by interested parties for obvious reasons. The competition (Google, Verizon, Microsoft) have all taken the opportunity to make digs at Apple, which is understandable. The Apple haters are crying wolf about this being a giant disaster when it’s not effecting sales at all. The satirists are busy making their YouTube clips. The analysts, meanwhile, are talking recall, mostly to make the stock drop enough for some short-term profit.
And why not? It’s an amazing opportunity. Depress Apple’s stock as much as you can a few weeks before a major quarterly earnings call, then watch the stock climb when Apple announces more record-breaking numbers and iPhone sales that are through the roof.
Using the media to manipulate Apple’s stock price is nothing new, and it’s not black helicopter theory. Jim Cramer has been caught on video describing his methods of doing this.
Either way, Apple seems to be riding out the storm, figuring it will go away in the long run. Especially once they announce record sales of the iPhone 4, I don’t see how anyone will credibly be able to make the case that the brand has been damaged, or that this issue is going to make a dent in Apple’s growth.
