After Nokia’s “we don’t sacrifice performance for design” reaction and RIM’s stronger “hey, at least our phones don’t need bumpers to work” statement, Samsung and HTC put out their own reactions to Apple’s claim that all smartphones have death grip issues.
HTC’s response came first, mentioning that the Droid Eris had a lower problem rate than the iPhone’s, with a 0.016% complaint rate for the Android phone that Apple singled out. We should also note that Verizon has already discontinued the Droid Eris—it was only dragged into the Antennagate conversation after Apple’s deathgrip demo used the HTC-built model.
As for Samsung, who also got involved into the antenna issue when Apple used the Omnia II, they simply said that since the Omnia II’s antenna was at the bottom of the phone, the likelihood of it suffering from the death grip was small. Samsung spokesman Shin Young-joon also questioned the Apple video demo, arguing that the results “weren’t predictable and could change.”
Samsung’s comments were told to the Korea Herald, but they didn’t issue a formal statement. It’s not like they lose when the iPhone 4 wins anyway. Samsung makes the flash memory and A4 chip that the iPhone 4 runs on.
Now that everyone – at least everyone on Apple’s “Antenna Performance” page – tossed their two cents in the pot, maybe it’s time to give the issue a rest. And wait for the next iPhone. Or iPhone rival.
Tags: Antennagate, Apple, HTC, iPhone 4, Mobile Phones, Samsung
