Iphone SDK coming Real Soon Now

APPLE WILL release the software developer kit for the Iphone “any day now”, according to SiliconValley.com, but even that might not be enough to hurt barnstorming sales of RIM’s BlackBerry.

SiliconValley is probably right as Apple said back in October last year to expect the SDK in February and with just a week to go in this cold, cruel month, Apple is too late to announce a delay.

Companies such as NetSuite and HyperOffice have already created optimisations of web-based software for the Iphone and there have been unofficial native apps written but the official SDK will change the face of the device. The official kit will nudge engineers to create a ton of downloadable unique programs and adapted versions of existing products, such is demand for the Iphone and anything that so much as touches the hem of its virtual garment.

That the Iphone has been the biggest hit since The Birdie Song was released is not in doubt. What’s less clear is whether adding a developer ecosystem will be enough to hurt RIM’s BlackBerry, the former coolest handset on the block to own. Ever since the Iphone arrived, people who watch out for such things have been on the lookout for any flagging in BlackBerry
sales. So far, however, they have seen nothing to report but upside and gravy for the Canadians.

Yesterday, RIM shares shot up nine per cent on the upward adjustment of sales forecasts. The company now expects to have about 14 million subscribers when it reports numbers in April. That will be a close to doubling of the population of the BlackBerry universe since last year.

Apple’s Iphone might be a cult but the BlackBerry’s famously addictive powers are showing no sign of waning. The one near-term possibility of Apple hurting RIM would be a business push for the Iphone but without a keyboard, even that would be unlikely to lead to severe damage. µ