Apple quietly handling iPhone touchscreen issues?

It doesn't appear to be particularly widespread, but according to a couple threads on Apple's support forums and elsewhere, a small number of iPhones are suddenly getting "dead spots" on their touchscreens -- mostly along the bottom, but occasionally affecting the entire surface. Apple is apparently being extremely proactive in dealing with the issue, calling customers who've posted in their forums and arranging replacements -- the company can't let anything tarnish the image of The Most Important Device Ever, after all. All of our iPhones are still working great (even after some casual hacking) -- anyone else have this problem?

[Via AppleInsider]