Cook apologizes for Apple Maps errors

SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc. Chief Executive Tim Cook apologized yesterday to the consumer giant’s customers who were frustrated with glaring errors in its new Maps service, and directed them to rival services instead, such as Google Inc.’s Maps.
Apple launched its own mapping service earlier this month when it rolled out iOS 6, the highly anticipated update to its mobile software platform, and started selling the iPhone 5.
But users have complained that Apple’s new map service - based on Dutch navigation equipment and digital map maker TomTom NV’s’s data - contained geographical errors, gaps in information, and that it lacked features that made Google Maps so popular, including public transit directions, comprehensive traffic data or street view pictures.
“We are extremely sorry for the frustration this has caused our customers and we are doing everything we can to make Maps better,” Cook said in a letter to customers released on its website, adding that the company “fell short” of its commitment to deliver “the best experience possible to our customers.”
He then suggested that customers download rival mapping services available in Apple’s App store, while the company improves the product.
“While we’re improving Maps, you can try alternatives by downloading map apps from the App Store like Bing, MapQuest and Waze, or use Google or Nokia maps by going to their websites and creating an icon on your home screen to their web app,” he said in the letter.
Meanwhile, Chinese gadget fans are scouring the Internet grey market to locate Apple’s new iPhone 5, giving an early indication of robust demand in Apple’s second-biggest global market.
Although smuggled iPhones are available offline, it is online, on platforms like Taobao Marketplace where about 150 million people shop, that is drawing the most interest.
According to Reuters calculations based on the Taobao Index, the consumer research data website of Alibaba Group, the iPhone 5 over the past six days had an average turnover value of 713 compared with the iPhone 4S that had an average turnover value of 314. A higher turnover value indicates more transactions done on Taobao for an item.
This indicates strong demand for the yet-to-be-officially released iPhone 5 on the mainland, where Apple is losing market share to smartphones running Google Inc.’s Android system.
But while demand is strong, constraints on smuggled supplies are limiting sales online and a rough calculation shows sales of only about 4,000 units via Taobao.
Apple’s latest iteration of its popular phone officially went on sale last Friday in the United States, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the UK. It took little more than five hours for the first iPhone 5 to go on sale in China after being smuggled across the border from Hong Kong.
“We smuggle our iPhone 5s from Hong Kong to the mainland. You don’t need to worry about fake ones,” said one online seller on Taobao Marketplace, whose shop has sold more than 700 units.
Demand for smuggled iPhones is strong in China because the release in the mainland usually happens months after the product’s release elsewhere. Local media reported on Wednesday that the iPhone 5 has received approval from China’s product quality certification centre, but the phone still needs telecom network approval from the government before it can be officially launched.
In August industry data showed that Apple’s share of China’s smartphone market almost halved to 10 percent in April-June as buyers waited for the iPhone 5 or switched brands.
But penny-wise customers are not jumping on the bandwagon just yet as the iPhones are sold at a hefty premium compared to official prices.
“I think the new iPhone 5 will be released at the end of this year, but I will wait for a while because I believe the price will go down,” said Yu Xiaochen, 21, a graduate student in Shanghai.