When it was first discovered that the iPhone 4 had a problem with the external antenna, of course Apple played down the issue, but the problem didn’t go away, turned into what has become known as antennagate and Apple was forced to offer their bumper case to iPhone 4 owners for free.

I’m sure you know how that story went along, and Apple still says that the antennagate issue wasn’t widespread. So Apple ends their free iPhone 4 bumper case giveaway as of the 30th of last month, a giveaway that must have cost Apple a pretty penny in lost bumper case revenue.

Now though we have a new issue with the iPhone 4 which is being tagged Glassgate, whereby apparently if an iPhone user uses a slide on case, particles can be trapped and lead to the rear glass of the smartphone being scratched and possibly shattered. Word is Apple is looking into this new Glassgate issue and has stopped offering third-party cases.

The thing is, it seems somewhat funny that this Glassgate issue with the iPhone 4 has suddenly appeared after Apple stops giving away their bumper cases, and then stop offering third-party cases as well, which could be seen as Apple saying the only way to resolve the Glassgate issue is to use a non-slide on case, or bumper case type.

Apple hasn’t solved the antennagate issue, and they aren’t about to say if your rear glass cracks we will replace it free of charge, but it is somewhat convenient that Glassgate only shows its ugly head once Apple start charging for the bumper case again.

This could mean that Glassgate could possibly cause the Apple faithful to purchase an Apple bumper case to solve the Glassgate issue and thus Apple profits from increased bumper case sales, shame Apple designers didn’t foresee the potential of glass shattering and used Gorilla Glass for the rear of the iPhone 4.