Apple Wakes Up to a Bad iPhone 4S Hangover

There's bad news and worse news after the underwhelming iPhone announcement

Let's get this out of the way: Lots of people are very disappointed with Apple. As much as tech bloggers are singing the praises of the new features and analysts insist that the new pricing structure makes the iPhone more competitive with the Android, the usual afterglow that sparkles the eyes of Apple fanboys is noticeably absent the day after the latest big product reveal. It's very possible that consumer sentiment could brighten up once people actually start using the device and its shiny new software, but from a business perspective, Apple woke up to a series of headaches on Tuesday morning. Like dealing a bad hangover, Tim Cook and company will have to grin and bear it.

Samsung wants to block the iPhone 4S in Europe. Anyone who's been following the global patent battles between these two companies won't be too surprised by speculative reports that Samsung is already crying foul. Reuters reports that the South Korean electronics giant is preparing to file patent-infringement claims in France and Italy over some of the new iPhone 4S features. "Apple has continued to flagrantly violate our intellectual property rights and free-ride on our technology," the company said in a statement. Apple has yet to respond.

Apple's new personal assistant Siri is the butt of many jokes in Japan. Everyone remembers the collective gasp over the obvious women's product pun when Apple dubbed their new tablet the iPad last year. A similar thing happened in Japan when Apple announced that the new voice-controlled personal assistant software would keep the name Siri. The similar-sounding word shiri literally means "ass" in Japanese.

Wall Street is betting heavy on Apple's smartphone competitors. The market did not react kindly to Apple's anti-climactic announcement on Wednesday as the price of Apple shares sunk by $25 in afternoon trading. They recovered those losses by the end of the day, but Apple still closed down. Competitors Samsung, HTC and LG, however, enjoyed a bit of a bull run, as analysts pointed out how the disappointing news spells opportunity for Android devices. "Apple no longer has a leading edge, its cloud service is even behind Android," one in Taipei told Reuters. "It can only sell on brand loyalty now."

iPhone fans might have to wait until 2013 for the 5. Obviously, the rumor mill is already spinning at full speed in an attempt to reset its predictions about Apple's next move. The first reports are not optimistic about the company releasing an iPhone 5 any time soon. Citing the sluggish progress of next-generation technology, Taiwan's Digitimes is reporting that Apple's next big upgrade probably won't come until late 2012 or even 2013.

People are already making fun of Tim Cook. It was a big day for Apple's new CEO, and Funny or Die is making a jester out of him. But based on what we know about his very nice signing bonus, Cook can dry his tears with hundred dollars bills.