Apple must preserve their brand to survive. However, this means they cannot admit the fault was theirs. Their slogan, after all, is that "It Just Works". To admit there is any problem with the device would be to admit it doesn't "just work".
Instead, Apple will go on the defensive, saying a small, yet vocal, handful of people continue to hold the phone wrong, and insist that there is no problem. They will accuse Consumer Reports of having anti-Apple bias. They will play the victim.
Their legions of [strike]mindless[/strike]devoted followers will feel sympathetic. They will boycott Consumer Reports (driving the not-for-profit out of business). They will purchase a new iPhone4, even though they already bought one a month ago. They will buy the iPhone 5, even though its just a brick with a crudely-drawn on Apple logo. Its just what fanatics do. You can't reason with them.
Long story short, Apple stays in business because when you don't have a good reason to own their product in the first place (over better, cheaper competitors), its hard to talk you out of not owning it.