Symbian brushes off iPhone

Apple's forthcoming iPhone poses no immediate threat to Symbian's dominance of the cellular phone world, according to the company's CEO who spoke at a press conference during the 3GSM expo today in Barcelona. Speaking to journalists gathered at the event, Symbian chief Nigel Clifford was optimistic about Apple's device as a potential catalyst for the company's already booming sales, potentially reversing North American stereotypes of smartphones as having only specific uses. "This could educate the American consumer that there is more that you can do with a phone than treat it as an email device," the executive said.

Symbian's chief also speculated that smartphone pricing will soon dip substantially, as the partners who use the Symbian OS backbone -- including Nokia, Samsung, and Sony-Ericsson -- are on the verge of producing many of their smartphones at prices under $300 mark for almost half the price of the iPhone. Many industry watchers see this as the turning point for smartphones to gain true acceptance, according to the CEO. The change is being nudged by lower costs and greater access to cellular services, especially mobile internet connections, according to Electronista.

Symbian today reported that it has shipped 51.7 million phones based on its platform in just the past year, grabbing a 73 percent share of smartphones. Apple CEO Steve Jobs has so far targeted iPhone sales at a significantly lower 10 million per year in 2008, and the California company will be the only one to use its mobile edition of Mac OS X.

by MacNN Staff