Iphone won't revolutionise smartphone market

But he does identify the two bright ideas inside the Iphone which the opposition will steal. Because great artists don't copy, they steal.

The two ideas are touch screens will become more sensitive, he says and other smartphones will start to boast accelerometers.

That's the technology that the Iphone uses to orient its displays and active/deactivate controls depending on how the handset is held.

"The iPhone's effect on the market will be similar to that of Motorola's Razr," Carlaw says. "It will spawn a number of look-and-feel-alikes and will be seen as a benchmark for future design."

Crucially he signals out the fact that the Iphone isn't aimed at the enterprise user. Instead it's a high-tier featurephone which targets the emerging 'prosumer' market segment.

On the back of these insights, ABI Research forecasts that the whole smartphone market segment will grow from 218 million units in 2007 to 426 million units in 2012.

So it's not just the INQ that thinks the Iphone isn't the bees knees. µ

L'INQ
ABI