Instant view: Apple CEO Jobs tackles iPhone complaints

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple Inc, faced with a public relations problem over a nagging antenna issue on the iPhone 4, promised its customers a free case that it hopes will prove a fix and quiet critics.

Chief Executive Steve Jobs, at a press conference, apologized for the antenna issue, but also said the episode had "been blown so out of proportion, it's incredible" and pointed to industry-wide problems with wireless signals.

COMMENTARY:

RICK MUNARRIZ, ANALYST, MOTLEY FOOL:

"Tone-wise I guess Steve Jobs is dancing like Fred Astaire, although maybe the 2010 version of Astaire. It seems a bit over-the-top, at least initially, saying, 'Hey we're not the only ones with our hands in the cookie jar,' blaming everybody else where Apple is supposed to be this aspirational brand above everybody else.

"It's a delicate situation in that he started out a bit too cocky when people just wanted him to grovel on the ground and apologize and sing the mea culpa, but that's not Apple's style.

"At least Apple is taking the highroad in that they're willing to fix this problem, it's not a cheap fix for them but obviously it's a lot more advisable than a recall."

ASHOK KUMAR, ANALYST, RODMAN & RENSHAW:

"It could have been done much better because Apple is held to a much higher standard. You don't want to compare yourself to the competition because Apple is Apple. He did a disservice by comparing the Apple quality to Motorola and HTC.

"It's a rounding error for a company of this size and balance sheet strength ... Cost is not a consideration because consumers have full faith in that brand, so they should do everything to protect the brand regardless of the cost.

"It's just an unfortunate turn of events which the company could have addressed on day one, and it would not have escalated to this kind of situation."

PATRICK KERLEY, SENIOR DIGITAL STRATEGIST, LEVIC STRATEGIC

COMMUNICATIONS:

""If there's anyone who can single-handedly get up on stage and reset the tone it's Steve Jobs. It was the right choice by Apple to have him go up there and explain it to fans and consumers generally, anyone else would have looked insincere. He's the face of the company, and while it's painful and we wouldn't always recommend it, he was the right man for the job here.

"From what I can tell, it seemed like a very sincere and transparent explanation of what they gathered. If there was anything that could improve it would have probably been the speed at which they offered the explanation.

"Unfortunately, as we saw, by taking those 20-something days it left a vacuum to fill by reporters and bloggers that really had no choice but to speculate. The rules have changed -- whether it be Facebook or Twitter, it's quicker and faster and you have to respond more quickly to brand challenges like these to make sure we don't have an event like we did today."

JOE KINAHAN, CHIEF DERIVATIVES STRATEGIST, TD AMERITRADE.

"In Apple, we have seen heavy trading in stock and options volume heading into the news conference. There is a difference of opinion as to whether Apple will continue to be an amazing technology leader or the problems with the iPhone 4 will lead to a crumbling of confidence across the board in Apple products and open the door to competitors."

TODD DAY, ANALYST, FROST & SULLIVAN:

"The only real solution that they had was to provide bumpers, a recall is just too expensive... Ultimately, that's really the only choice that they had, and on top of that they're providing options for people... In the long-run, they're going to keep their users happy and the investors and the market are going to be happy because it's somewhat of a low-cost solution."

COLIN GILLIS, ANALYST, BGC PARTNERS:

"The market says it best -- the stock has turned from red to green. He framed the issue for us, he's given a solution with the bumpers and if you don't want the phone you can return it. It's a reasonable effort so you put this behind the company. I think he handled it well, it's a minimal impact to the financial market... The real focus comes on Tuesday when we get to see the company's earning power."

(Reporting Alex Dobuzinskis and Carolina Madrid in Los Angeles and Doris Frankel in Chicago; Compiled by Paul Thomasch in New York)