The battle of the smartphones

As the smartphone debate goes on over iPhone versus BlackBerry I find myself wondering who will win the battle for the prosumer market.

I wanted to look at some stats to see if any clear trend is emerging and I found that, according to IDC , Apple's share of the smartphone market declined in the first quarter to 19.2% from 26.7% in the prior quarter and much of that slack was taken up by RIM's BlackBerry which comprised 44.5% of the market in the first quarter versus 35.1% the previous quarter.

Now, one could argue that this situation could reverse going forward given the new version of the iPhone that came out with more features, at a better price which makes these numbers inconclusive in terms of future trends.

I have done some "social research" on this subject as well, asking a cross section of SF event goers why they prefer, or should I say, LOVE their chosen device and it seems that iPhone users care more about the cool-ness factor and Blackberry users are more concerned with practicality.

There might be some predictive value in finding some global prosumer stats on how many people view themselves as cool vesus how many feel that they are practical and we assume that people use their devices as a form of self expression.

For now, I will just continue my research and base my opinion on the fact that I prefer BlackBerry....... though I may at some point be swayed by the cool- factor of the iPhone.

Second Time's a Charm?

Today the Financial Times reported that Intel is planning on getting back into the mobile phone chip market. Paul Otellini, CEO, has said that he believes that PC processor expertise that Intel possesses will be extremely beneficial due to the fact that smartphones are becoming more like computers. Back in 2006, Intel made an attempt in the mobile phone chip market, but ended up selling its product to Marvell.

I think that this could be a smart move for Intel, however they definitely face challenges. With RIM's BlackBerry and Apple's iPhone dominating the smartphone market, working with these two market leaders would have to be important to them.

And the fact that they are not the only company diving into this market could determine their success as well. An article in Reuters explains that Nvidia announced their plans to roll out a similar product, aiming at the exact same market as Intel. So Intel’s 2009 launch plan could pose a problem.

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see…