A research firm said Tuesday that Apple's iPhone is facing strong competition from handsets using Google's Android platform. Technology industry consultancy Ovum said that by 2015, total mobile application downloads in the Asia-Pacific will reach 5.30 billion, and 11 percent of those will be for the iPhone. Ovum said that downloads of iPhone applications are estimated at 62.13 million in 2010, rising to 597 million downloads in 2015.  The iPhone 4 will be launching in another 17 countries and cities around the world on Friday. The latest generation smartphone from Apple is expected to "to face much stiffer competition than its predecessors," Ovum principal analyst Adam Leach said in a statement. "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," Leach said.He said that handsets using Google's mobile OS platform are more than just clones of the iconic iPhone. "The risk to Apple is that these devices 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," said Leach."This may ultimately be what puts the brakes on unlimited iPhone growth."Customers can purchase the new iPhone 4 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland as of July 30.---On the Net:AppleGoogle AndroidOvum

less than 41 day(s) - Tuesday July,27 2010 @ 06:35 PM
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