Will Android end iPhone's success story?

BANGALORE, INDIA: With the launch of its fourth-generation smartphone, iPhone 4, Apple is once again in the news with a big bang. The gadget was a big news even before it was launched, as its prototype got leaked quite mysteriously.

And with this launch, analyst firm Ovum feels that iPhone's status as an industry benchmark has got stronger.

“In three short years the iPhone has become the industry benchmark for high-end smartphones and the fourth generation device only reinforces this view,” said Adam Leach, principal analyst at Ovum.

According to him the success of the iPhone is down to a number of interrelated factors.

“First, Apple created a device with a genuinely unique user experience, one that consumers still find engaging and easy to use. Second, Apple wrapped this user experience into a well designed and sleek form factor. Third, the company created an end-to-end platform that integrates Apple's own services (eg iTunes) as well as third party services onto the device (through the hugely successful App Store),” he explained.

He also said that Apple’s ability to build and motivate a large and active developer community that produces content, has helped iPhone's market impact.

“This ecosystem of developers and the value they bring to the platform, as well as to consumers, is the hardest aspect of the iPhone proposition for other companies to replicate, especially given the reluctance of developers to support multiple software platforms.”

But this does not mean that iPhone 4 will have an easy walkover in the highly competitive market of high-end phones. According to Adam Leach, the iPhone 4 faces much stiffer competition than its predecessors.

“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. These handsets are more than just iPhone clones,” he said.

The main risk to Apple is that the devices from rivals 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.

(And the million-dollar question is: Will the rivals be able put the brakes on the unlimited growth of iPhone? Please give your comments in the box below)