Apple has called a surprise news conference on 16 July at 1800 (BST) to talk about the iPhone 4 as the clamour for the company to resolve antenna problems with the new device intensified.
The iPhone4 was first released in early June
The company has refused to give details about whether the event will address reception problems that some users have reported with the phone, launched just last month.
Apple has faced mounting criticism from analysts and consumers over its handling of the issue.
Industry watchers said the firm was in danger of damaging its “rock star” reputation over how poorly it had dealt with what would normally be a minor problem.
“It seems there has been a real crisis of leadership here,” said Patrick Kerley, senior digital strategist for Levick Strategic Communications which deals in crisis managment and reputation protection.
“There are so many conflicting reports about this issue and a lot of confusion in the marketplace. They need a plan of attack. Today’s companies have to react quickly before chatter on Facebook or Twitter turns into news headlines as is the case here,” Mr Kereley told BBC News.
That was a view echoed by a number of other brand managers and industry analysts.
“They have not handled this well at all and they have turned this into a bigger problem than it needed to be,” said Van Baker, senior vice president of research at Gartner.
Escalating issue
Reports of problems with the iPhone 4′s antennas started surfacing shortly after the phone went on sale on June 24. At that time some users claimed the signal strength fell away and calls were dropped when they gripped the phone on the lower left side.
The antenna is built in to the iPhone 4 case
A number of videos were posted on the video sharing site YouTube complaining about the reception issue.
The antenna is built in to the iPhone 4 case
Days later an email that puported to have been sent by Apple co-founder Steve Jobs did the rounds after one user contacted him to find out if there was a fix for the problem.
BoyGeniusReport.com, an Apple blog, printed the transcript in which Mr Jobs emailed back “you are getting all worked up over a few days of rumours. Calm down”.
The authenticity of the exchange was never confirmed or denied by Apple but it lit a spark among critics and fans alike who marvelled at the tone.
“The arrogance of this email, true or not, escalated the problem for Apple when what they should have done was get out in front of the problem and said here is the deal,” said technology analyst Rob Enderle of the Enderle Group.
On July 2, Apple issued a statement explaining that it was “surprised” by reports of reception problems and that an investigation found there was an error in the how the signals bars are displayed, rather than the signal itself.
The casing of Apple’s latest phone is made of stainless steel and also serves as its antenna.
Tests carried out this week by Consumer Reports confirmed a problem with the iPhone 4′s reception. In what was seen as a body blow to Apple, Consumer Reports said it could not recommend the phone to users.
Recall
In the last 48 hours the furore around the iPhone 4 antenna problem has snowballed.
There have been requests to have the phone recalled but that is seen as an very unlikely scenario given the damage that would cause to Apple’s bottom line and its reputation.
“Apple is probably one of the most important brands of the last 50 years,” said Olivier Blanchard, president of Brand Builder Marketing.
“They are rock stars in that sense and I believe that this fiasco with the iPhone 4 is an excuse to attack a company that is becoming such a giant. Five years ago when they were the underdog this would have been a non issue,” Mr Blanchard told BBC News.
Analysts have estimated a recall could cost as much as $1.5bn (£1bn) whereas the cost of issuing free rubber bumpers to aleviate the problem would be far cheaper at nearly $180m (£118m).
Despite the negative headlines, a number of analysts have reported that consumers are not turned off.
“So far, in our supply chain and industry checks, we have not seen any change in build plans or demand patterns and thus we are not changing our estimates looking for 7.5m iPhones in the June quarter and 40m in C2010,” said Shaw Wu of Kaufman Bros.
“In fact, our sources indicate that Apple is still having difficulty keeping up with strong demand due to screen supply constraints. Should this antenna issue become a bigger deal, there could be a risk to iPhone estimates.”