Apple iPhone Looks Good, But is it Smart?

January 25, 2007 By Ian Bell

ABI Research claims that by their definition the Apple iPhone is not technically a smartphone. But can you lay that claim to a product that has not been released yet?

There is no doubt that when the Apple iPhone was announced on January 9th, all of the media attention was on the Cupertino based company. Scheduled to be offered in both 4GB and 8GB configurations, the Apple iPhone uses Mac OS X as its operating system – and that should give a clue as to the phone’s power. Unfortunately according to ABI Research, despite its OS the iPhone is not a true Smartphone. So what exactly makes a phone smart?

ABI Research defines a Smartphone as a phone that supports third party applications, and while the iPhone definitely has a powerful operating system, the research firm says that Apple will keep the iPhone as a closed system shutting out any third party developers. “It turns out that this device will be closed to third party applications. Therefore we must conclude at this point that, based on our current definition, the iPhone is not a Smartphone: it is a very high-end feature phone.” says broadband analyst Philip Solis.

Wireless Research Director Stuart Carlaw adds, “Consumers will not be willing to settle for a second-rate cell phone just to have superior music. Apple must get the phone engineering part of the equation right, and it is difficult to see how they will accomplish that with no track record in the industry. Even though they are working with some prominent suppliers, the task of putting all of the building blocks together cannot be underestimated.”

Whether Apple will truly block third party developers from touching the iPhone remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: Apple needs an edge here in the mobile market, and with an OS like Mac OS X powering the iPhone, it would be a shame to let it go to waste.

Apple expects the iPhone to begin shipping in June, 2007, with a 4 GB model priced at $499 and an 8 GB model for $599, each with a two year service contract. iPhones will land in Europe in the fourth quarter of 2007, and in Asia during 2008.

Showing 2 comments

Tim Stevens at 11:27am 25th January 2007 The iPhone comes with applications for doing some of the same things that any Windows Mobile "smartphone" can do, and possibly do some of those things better. Put hardware aspects aside, I think having OS X on the phone definitely makes the iPhone a smart phone.
Brett at 9:36am 25th January 2007 These research companies will pull anything out of their butt to make it look like they know what they are doing. I am willing to bet money that Apple will allow third party developers to create software for the iPhone. They need to appeal to a broad audience here, and since it's using Mac OS X it should be very simply to write a program for the phone. The more programs there are available, the more likely people will adopt the phone. People want to be unique, and software will let them do that.