iPhone 4s bumper payday

A serious design flaw or a big ball of nothing – however you view the Apple iPhone 4 antenna crisis, the good news for retailers is that rubber bands are suddenly in serious demand.

While the true extent of the iPhone 4’s reception issues are still yet to be fully explored, what we can be certain of is that using one of Apple’s 25 ‘bumper’ cases significantly lessens the issue of dropped reception when the phone is in a user’s hands.

Such is the demand for Apple’s case – which can only be purchased direct from the platform holder – that all colours aside from black currently have a three-week delay if ordered online.

So it’s no surprise to see other firms quickly moving to get their own ‘bumper’ designs onto the market.

The likes of Gear4 and Griffin had a range of iPhone 4 cases in O2 and Carphone Warehouse stores for the launch of the device last week, but the first alternative ‘bumpers’ to those offered by Apple are already being listed by some retailers.

Orange has placeholder listings for the Gear4 ‘Band’, though no release date has yet been announced. Higher-end solutions are now also being marketed. ElementCase is taking pre-orders on the Vapor4 – a laser engraved aluminium bumper with an inner ‘non-conductive’ lining. Prices start at $79.95.

Sellers are also quickly flooding eBay with a range of cheap bumper alternatives which can be had alongside the official options – if you’re willing to pay a premium price.