Apple Facing Second iPhone Lawsuit Over 3G Performance

Apple is facing a second lawsuit over poor iPhone performance. This time, the company faces complaints that it sold more handsets than its 3G network could cope with.

You may remember that many of the recent reports of dropped calls (caused by reception problems on the 3G network) came from California. It's therefore not a major surprise that the new legal action comes from a San Diego resident, William Gillis.

He alleges that the new iPhone demands too much power from 3G networks, to the point that AT&T's 3G network can't handle the demand. An exclusive carrier deal means iPhone customers can only use the AT&T network. (Source: gizmodo.com)

According to Gillis' argument, Apple deliberately intended to put this high demand on the network, with his filing pointing to the firm's goals of selling 10 million units. He also claims the firm misled buyers about how well the phones would work on the 3G network.

Gillis is going for a clean sweep in his demands: he want an injunction to stop AT&T and Apple continuing the current arrangement, compensation for every affected customer, damages to be awarded to cover both the actual costs and a degree of punishment against the firm, and even the painful-sounding "disgorgement of ill-gotten gains". Perhaps more significantly, he's asking for it to become a class-action case in which other iPhone customers can join rather than having to launch separate cases.

The Gillis case follows another lawsuit launched a couple of weeks ago by an Alabama resident. Her case is based around Apple's hype for the device, which included references to it offering "twice the speed for half the price". As a victim of the 3G network problems, she says she hasn't received what was promised. She's demanding that all affected handsets be repaired or replaced, with compensation payments where appropriate. (Source: arstechnica.com)