Jobs Puts 'Antennagate' in Perspective

Steve Jobs did a great job of putting "antennagate" into proper perspective. As we officially put this in the rear view mirror I have three parting shots:

Traditional Media Outlets Duped

The wild west of the blogosphere had a few isolated reports of iPhone 4 antenna issues and then Consumer Reports released a suspect report that was contrary to majority experience and big media everywhere jumped on board. False perception overtook reality.

Kudos to Jobs for putting the small minority in its place. Big media outlets should have done a better job of filtering this news for their customers.

Actual statistics show 0.55% of iPhone 4 users have called AppleCare to complain about antenna issues and only 1.7% of buyers have returned the phone. The media created a crisis that did not exist as I explained in this week's CNBC interview.

iPhone 4 Sales May Hit 20 Million Units For Quarter

Antennagate will not hinder sales at all. On July 30, 17 new countries receive the phone and later this fall another 60 countries will be on line. The big question is how will Apple meet the demand?

In the U.S., consumers still wait two to three weeks before getting their phone's. The iPhone 4 had the largest sales opening of any smartphone in tech history and has already sold over 3 million units. The current quarter promises to be Apple's first to crack the 10 million units sold threshold.

International sales could propel the holiday quarter to crack the 15 million units sold threshold. And if Verizon(VZ) get's the iPhone in 2011, Apple could have a 20 million iPhone unit quarter. Do you think the stock will remain at the $250 level if Apple sell's 20 million iPhone's in a single quarter?

Future sales of the iPhone alone, not taking into account the success of the Mac and iPad lineup, will push the stock toward our $500 a share forecast.

Free Bumper Promotion Inconsequential to Apple's Bottom Line

This is when $45 billion of cash comes in handy. The company is so profitable because the executive/engineering team is so good at what they do.