Analysts: Apple bears the brunt of 3G woes

“It is a good wake-up call for the industry,” Edwards said. “You have rumors all the time of a [Google] gPhone, and an Android Phone on T-Mobile is rumored to be coming out this Fall, but we forget how these legacy carriers--in spite of all their issues and all the complaints of how they run their business--they do have expertise in delivering wireless solutions. And Apple doesn’t. Google certainly doesn’t.”

The New York Times reported that the update issued on Monday for 2.0.2 software is actually a holdover until 2.1 is available next month. Ho said that Apple must ensure that the full patch fixes all of the problems. Apple has too much riding on that patch to have things mess up again, he said.

The recent slate of criticism marks the first time Apple has received any widespread negative press on its handset since the 2G iPhone’s release one year ago. But the hype won’t last forever, Edwards said. To some extent, a slowdown in the momentum from iPhone version one is inevitable. “I think that what it’s done is taken them down a notch on the totem pole,” he added. “‘Apple can’t do wrong’ – it finally did wrong. These things aren’t exploding in people’s hands, but it’s an issue.”