SINGAPORE: Apple's iPhone will likely dominate the high-end smartphone market in the next five years but faces strong competition from handsets using Google's Android platform, a research firm said yesterday.
By 2015, total mobile application downloads in the Asia-Pacific are forecast to reach 5.30 billion, of which 597.15 million, or about 11 per cent, will be for the iPhone, technology industry consultancy Ovum said.
Downloads of iPhone applications are estimated at US$62.16 million (US$1 = RM3.19) in 2010, Ovum said in an analysis released four days before the launch of the new-generation iPhone 4 in another 17 countries and cities worldwide on Friday.
The iPhone 4 is expected "to face much stiffer competition than its predecessors", Ovum principal analyst Adam Leach said in a statement.
"The rise of Google Android over the last two years has been phenomenal and is allowing manufacturers to create appealing alternatives to the iPhone, critically at cheaper prices," Leach said.
"The risk to Apple is that these devices offer greater freedom with available content and may prove more appealing, if it offers the right user and developer experience, than a device with Apple-approved content only," said Leach.
From July 30, customers can purchase the iPhone 4 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. - AFP
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