An Apple iPhone - Competitors Stand Firm

An Apple iPhone may be a relatively new kid on the blocks but it is shaking up the global mobile phone industry. So how are competitors responding?

More than 285 million handsets were sold in one quarter last year and each and every week new handsets and services are launched into a burgeoning market ever hungry for more features. With China and India becoming more affluent, this figure is set to soar.

Apple is the newest addition. They managed to sell 1.4m iPhones in the first 90 days on sale in the US. It is an impressive number but a fraction of the global market.

And the companies who dominate the global market are putting out handsets that are serious competitors.

It is clear that Nokia, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, HTC and Motorola, are keeping their eyes firmly on Apple's progress.

Other firms have also been quick to flex their muscles and roll out devices which they say offer all of the features of the iPhone yet are cheaper, simpler, faster and better.

But Apple, for now at least, is only targeting a small sector of the mobile market.

By comparison, the heavyweight Nokia hit the 40% magic target of market share globally. Nokia will not take too kindly to Apple moving in on it's turf.

The touch screen is a major selling point for an Apple iPhone. But it is not just the hardware that Apple's competitors are seeking to beat - it is the services also.

Apple's iTunes music store and its integration with the iPhone is seductive for many people.

To counter that Nokia and operator Vodafone have launched separate services which they can beat an Apple iPhone at its own game.

And a Nokia spokesman said, "We have 900 million users of our phones worldwide and there is an opportunity here for us to provide a service to the device in their hands wherever they are."

He said Nokia's N95 mobile phone, the flagship device for the firm, was more than a match for an Apple iPhone.

"It's hugely successful; one of our all-time greats.

"We believe it stands very strongly against the iPhone and we think it provides everything the iPhone does but also GPS navigation as well.

"Navigation is a feature people will want and will be huge in the future through location-based services."

So although the iphone could claim to have stolen a march on some of its competitors, those same competitors will not take it lightly.

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