I'm not really sure what damage you're talking about, aside from posts from random people online badmouthing Maps. iPhone and iPad sales are still strong. Maps have gotten significantly better in just a few months (although I never saw a problem with it myself.) Everyone seems happy aside from people driving into an Australian desert they've never been to with no supplies— oh, and folks who need transit directions.
You can't expect any company to hire 10,000 people to work N amount of hours/day/years just so you can polish your app 5% more when that same polish can come from users submitting error reports. That's just nonsense.
Everyone seems happy aside from people driving into an Australian desert they've never been to with no supplies— oh, and folks who need transit directions.
Just to clarify, these people weren't driving into the desert, just into a town. The GPS took them 70 kilometres away and left them in a position unable to find a way out.
Anecdotal I know, but I have a chum - a big, big Apple fan - who has so far refused to upgrade to iOS 6 because of the maps issues. He also expected to buy the iPhone 5, but when it arrived it just didn't seem worth it. He's even given my SGS III appreciative looks. All this stuff is cumulative. Apple sales won't collapse overnight, but it is eating away at goodwill.
I'm in exactly that boat. I was planning on buying the iPhone 5 but when I heard about the maps problem it stopped me cold. I depend on Google Maps now for a lot of things like finding metro stops not to mention that I also use it when traveling abroad.
I'm at the point where I'm seriously considering going the Android route, especially since I think Google's OS and services are improving much more rapidly than Apple's.
Everyone I've spoken with an iPhone to has had problems with Apple's maps and wishes they would put Google's maps back in. Most of Britain is affected in one way or another, even just to the point of missing a lot of detail that we previously took for granted.
You can't expect any company to hire 10,000 people to work N amount of hours/day/years just so you can polish your app 5% more when that same polish can come from users submitting error reports. That's just nonsense.