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It is really surprising why otherwise great companies don't have a post-launch plan to deal with new product problems. It seems Steve Jobs asked consumers to hold the new iPhone4 at an angle. Other "innovative" solutions in the market is to put duct tape and there is every hope that Apple will extend warranties, offer a 1$ case that solves the reception problem.This is after a thumbs down from Consumer Reports.
Avandia and Glaxo are unbelievably reported to have settled thousands of lawsuits about the heart problems that some consumers have faced since the product was launched eleven years ago. A product withdrawal has been barely averted today with the FDA panel recommending stronger warnings and restricted use.
These companies seem to not have a well articulated plan for dealing with post-launch problems of new products. Surely there can be a well defined ( say 10,000 consumer complaints on the web about iPhone4) metric or 100 lawsuits (for Avandia) when the plan can kick in.
Or is it that both high tech companies can't accept (and therefore don't plan for the unthinkable) that something might not work in the market and there was some stuff inadvertently missed at the development stage.Consumer companies,like McDonald, seem to be much more real about the pitfalls of the New Product Development process and are able to deal much better with post new product launch problems.