iPhone reception; Australian Mac sales boom; 30% off Office 2008
AT&T is investigating reports from iPhone 3G users who claim their new phones can't maintain a solid 3G signal. Meanwhile, new figures show a huge jump in Apple's share of the Australian PC market. And Microsoft is offering students up to 30% off Office 2008 with the purchase of a new Mac.
iPhone 3G reception
Are some iPhone 3G's plagued by reception problems? Apple and its US wireless partner AT&T don't think so. However, those with a less than stellar experience have been congregating on Apple's discussion forums for over a month now, demanding the company take notice.
Among the various issues are an unusual number of dropped 3G voice calls, calls that don't properly downgrade from a 3G signal to an EDGE signal when 3G reception weakens, and poor overall 3G reception in areas where other 3G phones reflect good reception.
In a research note to clients Tuesday, Nomura analyst Richard Windsor speculated that an "immature" chipset solution from Infineon may be to blame for the sporadic issues.
"We believe that these issues are typical of an immature chipset and radio protocol stack where we are almost certain Infineon is the 3G supplier," he wrote.
Windsor added that since he believes the problem to be embedded within the chipset itself, it's unlikely that Apple can rectify the issue through software updates.
While Apple has remained relatively mum on the subject, AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said his firm is working with the iPhone maker to ensure that users have a great experience with the iPhone 3G, which he said has not been a source of tremendous complaints.
Siegel added the two companies are indeed investigating all customer complaints, but said it remains unclear whether the complaints are indicative of a widespread problem or the product of individual circumstances.
"How a device performs in individual situations depends on circumstances like where you are in the 3G coverage, how close you are to a cell site," he said. "Things like terrain and buildings all come into play. I'm not denying that people are having a less than satisfactory experience, but overall, the phone is doing great."
Australian Mac sales on the rise
Meanwhile, there's more good news for Apple's personal computer business coming out of Australia this week.
According to new figures released by market research firm Gartner, Apple's share of the local PC market rose to 5.3 percent in the second quarter of 2008, up from to 3.8 percent during the same period last year.
The firm estimate that Australians purchased approximately 1.2 million computers during the three months ended June, which would indicate sales of nearly 65,000 Macs -- an increase of 20,000 units from the year-ago quarter. That suggests Mac sales grew at over 50 percent in the region compared to just 9 percent growth achieved by the rest of the industry.
Rival market research firm IDC also released its own results this week, which largely corroborated those from Gartner. It placed Apple's share of the Australian PC market even higher, however, at 6.2 percent.
Student savings on Office 2008 through Sept. 8th
Finally, Microsoft said Tuesday it has teamed with a select few Apple authorized resellers like Amazon.com to offer students up to 30 percent off its various Office 2008 productivity suites when they're purchased alongside a new Mac before September 8th.
The offer translates into $15 off Office 2008 Home and Student Edition, $80 off Office 2008 Standard Edition, and $150 off Office 2008 Special Media Edition..
Amazon is also offering between $50 and $200 rebates on Apple's entire Mac line through August 25th.
AppleInsider last year published its Road to Mac Office 2008 series covering the new suite and its roots in great detail.
iPhone 3G reception
Are some iPhone 3G's plagued by reception problems? Apple and its US wireless partner AT&T don't think so. However, those with a less than stellar experience have been congregating on Apple's discussion forums for over a month now, demanding the company take notice.
Among the various issues are an unusual number of dropped 3G voice calls, calls that don't properly downgrade from a 3G signal to an EDGE signal when 3G reception weakens, and poor overall 3G reception in areas where other 3G phones reflect good reception.
In a research note to clients Tuesday, Nomura analyst Richard Windsor speculated that an "immature" chipset solution from Infineon may be to blame for the sporadic issues.
"We believe that these issues are typical of an immature chipset and radio protocol stack where we are almost certain Infineon is the 3G supplier," he wrote.
Windsor added that since he believes the problem to be embedded within the chipset itself, it's unlikely that Apple can rectify the issue through software updates.
While Apple has remained relatively mum on the subject, AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel said his firm is working with the iPhone maker to ensure that users have a great experience with the iPhone 3G, which he said has not been a source of tremendous complaints.
Siegel added the two companies are indeed investigating all customer complaints, but said it remains unclear whether the complaints are indicative of a widespread problem or the product of individual circumstances.
"How a device performs in individual situations depends on circumstances like where you are in the 3G coverage, how close you are to a cell site," he said. "Things like terrain and buildings all come into play. I'm not denying that people are having a less than satisfactory experience, but overall, the phone is doing great."
Australian Mac sales on the rise
Meanwhile, there's more good news for Apple's personal computer business coming out of Australia this week.
According to new figures released by market research firm Gartner, Apple's share of the local PC market rose to 5.3 percent in the second quarter of 2008, up from to 3.8 percent during the same period last year.
The firm estimate that Australians purchased approximately 1.2 million computers during the three months ended June, which would indicate sales of nearly 65,000 Macs -- an increase of 20,000 units from the year-ago quarter. That suggests Mac sales grew at over 50 percent in the region compared to just 9 percent growth achieved by the rest of the industry.
Rival market research firm IDC also released its own results this week, which largely corroborated those from Gartner. It placed Apple's share of the Australian PC market even higher, however, at 6.2 percent.
Student savings on Office 2008 through Sept. 8th
Finally, Microsoft said Tuesday it has teamed with a select few Apple authorized resellers like Amazon.com to offer students up to 30 percent off its various Office 2008 productivity suites when they're purchased alongside a new Mac before September 8th.
The offer translates into $15 off Office 2008 Home and Student Edition, $80 off Office 2008 Standard Edition, and $150 off Office 2008 Special Media Edition..
Amazon is also offering between $50 and $200 rebates on Apple's entire Mac line through August 25th.
AppleInsider last year published its Road to Mac Office 2008 series covering the new suite and its roots in great detail.
Comments
Apple better pray that it is not a chip problem, and related to software. You can almost taste the class action lawsuits, and return for repair costs that Apple will have to absorb.
It's probably AT&T- they suck. The original iPhone's reception in NYC was never great either.
It's probably AT&T- they suck. The original iPhone's reception in NYC was never great either.
On EDGE I mostly always get full bars in NYC.
On EDGE I mostly always get full bars in NYC.
"Mostly always"- in one of the largest cities in the world?
"Mostly always"- in one of the largest cities in the world?
There are a lot large buildings in NY that aren't friendly to RF.
I have become convinced there is an issue with the iPhone. I know there are many variables in the equation so I was initially skeptical too. But what finally convinced me was those people with two phones. They report that with the same carrier, in the same geographic location, with the same sim, the 3rd party phone works fine but the iPhone drops calls and does not ring when called.
"Mostly always"- in one of the largest cities in the world?
What does that matter, no phone maintains full bars 100% of the time.
What does that matter, no phone maintains full bars 100% of the time.
And nobody lives forever- right?
Lisaten- I hear up in Harlem the iPhone barely works at all. Even David Pogue of NY Times kept droppping calls on the West side of Manhattan in his intial review of the 3G!
It does matter.
http://forums.mactalk.com.au/47/5390...ldwide-24.html
It's interesting because there are multiple carriers selling the iPhone over there. One of the carriers (known as Telstra) uses the 850MHz spectrum and all the others use the 2100MHz spectrum.
The customers on the 850 carrier report no problems while the others are getting the dropouts.
And nobody lives forever- right?
Lisaten- I hear up in Harlem the iPhone barely works at all. Even David Pogue of NY Times kept droppping calls on the West side of Manhattan in his intial review of the 3G!
It does matter.
I was responding to your comment about the previous phone on EDGE. Now you move on to tests of 3G. It was Walt Mossberg who complained of dropped calls in Manhattan.
There are a lot large buildings in NY that aren't friendly to RF.
That must be a GSM problem because no CDMA problems wirth Verizon in Manhatan. I guess that's why its so popular here.
What does that matter, no phone maintains full bars 100% of the time.
For the sake of clarity, do you mean that no phone gets 100% reception for 100% of the time or that the strength indicator does not indicate full strength 100% of the time? Because my Nokia's get full strength where the iPhone is down a bar or two.
Re: iphone reception, another interesting thing is this Australian thread.
http://forums.mactalk.com.au/47/5390...ldwide-24.html
It's interesting because there are multiple carriers selling the iPhone over there. One of the carriers (known as Telstra) uses the 850MHz spectrum and all the others use the 2100MHz spectrum.
The customers on the 850 carrier report no problems while the others are getting the dropouts.
The customers on 850 are not on a 3G network, thus they are probably getting better coverage. 2100 MHZ is a totally different game.
Don't most colleges and universities have free Office for their students? So this would be tricking students into buying something they already have free access to?
Furthermore, isn't it fraudulent to call Office 2008 "Microsoft Office" when it has no VBR, no Solver, no Macros, no Microsoft Access, and crashes all the time?
Isn't it time Microsoft introduced Office for the Mac and not the watered-down trojan horse they are presenting passing off as "Office?"
If Word couldn't write any words, would it still be called Word for the Mac? Or would that be misrepresentation? They did the same with Excel. It's missing many critical features. Do students know that, and if so, why do they want Office? What possible value does it offer them?
That must be a GSM problem because no CDMA problems wirth Verizon in Manhatan. I guess that's why its so popular here.
One reason it is popular is because the normal GSM bands 900 MHZ, 1800 MHZ are used for something else in the US. The rest of the world uses 900 MHZ/1800 MHZ. Not to mention Qualcomm lobbying for its technology over GSM.
I was responding to your comment about the previous phone on EDGE. Now you move on to tests of 3G. It was Walt Mossberg who complained of dropped calls in Manhattan.
My point was that dropped calls are dropped calls- and both versions have bad AT&T reception. And Walt Mossberg was not complaining- his calls actually dropped!
Sounds fun (and dirty)...
On Office 2008:
Don't most colleges and universities have free Office for their students? So this would be tricking students into buying something they already have free access to?
Furthermore, isn't it fraudulent to call Office 2008 "Microsoft Office" when it has no VBR, no Solver, no Macros, no Microsoft Access, and crashes all the time?
Isn't it time Microsoft introduced Office for the Mac and not the watered-down trojan horse they are presenting passing off as "Office?"
If Word couldn't write any words, would it still be called Word for the Mac? Or would that be misrepresentation? They did the same with Excel. It's missing many critical features. Do students know that, and if so, why do they want Office? What possible value does it offer them?
????? Microsoft owns Office and can't use its own name? What planet are you from?
Is it not Adobe Photshop, Lotus Notes, etc, etc??
That must be a GSM problem because no CDMA problems wirth Verizon in Manhatan. I guess that's why its so popular here.
"Can you hear me now?" I have read David Pogue and the test he did in Manhattan and more stories about the poor reception with AT&T compared to Verizon in Manhattan and on some college campuses. But, to make an accurate and realistic diagnosis of what is going on, is there a third party that actually does signal reception tests? Do they have comparisons between the major carriers?
I have had Verizon for many years and I will wait until the contract with AT&T is over and iPhone starts selling with CDMA chips!