the Mapocalypse in 2012. (While rare, Apple’s stumbles are sometimes so spectacular that they reach instant-meme status, complete with cute nicknames.)
The first episode involved the cellular antenna on the iPhone 4. It became clear shortly after the model’s debut that skin contact with the device’s wraparound antenna caused signal loss. Moreover, the algorithm behind the phone’s signal-strength display masked the problem by causing it to show too many bars. The company addressed the issue by fixing the algorithm and giving out millions of free rubber bumpers (and, later, $15 class-action settlement checks).
The problems with Apple Maps, which replaced the Google-powered map app with the release of iOS 6 in September 2012, will take longer to fix. The main issue here is that the address database Apple licensed for Maps was faulty and incomplete; it placed museums on river bottoms and confused cathedrals with Burger Kings. The company is correcting the errors through crowdsourcing, and the Maps app that shipped with iOS 7 this fall was vastly improved. Apple’s main blunder in the Maps case was not taking more time to make its data bulletproof.
There have been other failures at Apple, such as MobileMe and Ping, but they’ve played out more gradually, attracting less intense press coverage. So far, the company has always come out of these episodes unscathed, with its growth rate barely dented. I think that’s mainly because it has built up a deep fund of customer loyalty (the “considerable attachment”), which earns it a bit of forgiveness when things go wrong. Also, there’s long been a shortage of acceptable alternatives—few Apple fans would have happily switched to Windows computers or the early Android smartphones.
But the company can’t count on having those cushions forever. Loyalty, for one thing, only goes so far. Hirschman’s view was that even the most loyal customers have a breaking point, usually reached after they feel they’ve protested as loudly as they can. Once voice is exhausted, exit is all that remains. And while exit from the Apple tribe may once have been unthinkable, that’s no longer the case, at least in the smartphone market, where Apple earns most of its revenue.
These days, Samsung, Motorola/Google, Microsoft/Nokia, and even HTC and LG all make perfectly good phones. We Apple fans aren’t supposed to say this, but there have been times when I’ve envied the huge screens, high-megapixel cameras, and nifty software on my friends’ Android phones. (Especially Google Now, whose conversational search capabilities and pop-up information cards make it a worthy competitor for Siri.) I still couldn’t switch to Windows, but I can imagine switching to Android.
But here’s the main issue: From Hirschman’s point of view, both voice and exit have important functions as signals of a deterioration in performance. They aren’t a death knell—they’re simply signs that there’s a problem, and that managers should begin a search for causes and cures, so as to mollify or win back frustrated customers. But first, the company has to be paying attention. Apple’s big strength is that it’s driven by great designers and engineers and canny operating executives. Its big weakness is that it just isn’t very good at listening to people.
Historically, Apple has had four ways of dealing with customers.
1. Telling them what they ought to like, think, or do. It’s a tone originally set by Steve Jobs, who famously said “People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.” That attitude works OK if you can keep coming up with startlingly innovative products, but it’s not so great in crisis situations. It didn’t go over with customers too well when Jobs told iPhone 4 owners concerned about signal attenuation to “Just avoid holding it that way.”
2. Letting them fend for themselves. The reigning theory at Apple is that if a device is well designed, it should be self-evident how to use it. Therefore the company doesn’t publish product manuals, just glitzy little quick-start guides. Phone support is generally free for the first 90 days after you buy a product, but if you have a problem after that, you have to search Apple’s online “support community”—where most of the answers come from other Apple customers—or buy an Apple Care contract. (The counterpoint here is the Apple Store, where staffers conduct free workshops on how to use Apple products. But this only helps those who live close to a store.)
3. Funneling customers to the Genius Bar. Judging from my own experiences, and reports from friends and colleagues, the main tactic for dealing with people who show up in Apple stores with broken products or technical problems is to be liberal about replacements. If the geniuses can’t figure out the issue with your glitchy iPhone, iPad, or Mac in 15 to 30 minutes, they generally offer you
