Smartphone OS market to face fierce battle

“With Android on the upswing, Palm’s Web OS starting to expand, and Apple’s iPhone not showing signs of slowing down, the battleground, and subsequent weeding-out phase of the smartphone OS war has started,” said In-Stat analyst Allen Nogee.

AT&T announced that it would now allow VoIP applications that run over its cellular network to be installed on iPhones. In-Stat believes AT&T has been watching the FCC become more serious about network neutrality in the mobile space; it may be only a matter of time before AT&T would be forced to allow these applications anyway. Currently, many high-voice usage customers are business customers. These subscribers likely won’t switch to VoIP in the near-term as their business pays for their service. Still, the AT&T announcement will have long-term implications for the current US cell phone billing model. If AT&T and other operators cannot charge high prices for voice, they will likely make it up by raising prices for data.