Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL)’s iPhones Still at the Top of the Smartphones Heap

The about-to-be-launched iPhone 5 by Apple Inc.(NASDAQ:AAPL) is being touted as the killer phone from the company and the last legacy of founder Steve Jobs, before he passed away last year.

The speculation surrounding the iPhone 5 is intense and we can safely say `unprecedented.' Actually this will be a major launch for the company since the iPhone 4 two years back - if we forget the iPhone 4S which did not feature any major changes from its predecessor apart from the voice assistant Siri.

Hence the anticipation over the iPhone 5, which is expected to be the game changer. When it comes to Apple the bar is always set higher with respect to innovation and features since it has reputation of giving consumers things which they did not even realise they wanted.

According to Forebes.com - "in spite of the exuberance around the launch, the opportunity to topple Apple’s smartphone dominance is now. Market-leading phones are most vulnerable at the end of their life cycle. Existing customers are ready to switch, and potential buyers are ready to consider other options."

Will AAPL Hit $1000 By This Year? Find Out Here

But where exactly is the competition?

Nokia Corporation (ADR)(NYSE:NOK)’s two new Windows-based Lumia phones somehow failed to strike a chord with the market - both in terms of investors as well as customers. Analyst panned the phones, the chief grouse being that it lacked the `wow' factor.

Motorola's updated Google phones, though credible enough in their own right, are really not the answer to the iPhone. There is a long way to go here.

Samsung, as the world's largest seller of smartphones, is the only one capable of dethroning the Apple dominance in the United States, but then the patents disputes with Apple and allegations of copying from Apple are a serious setback for the company.

Forbes.com says, "At best, Samsung will hold its lead in the Android ecosystem during this stage of the war."

HTC and Research in Motion are not in a position to offer any kind of competition, while Amazon, which could have done it, has failed to unveil any smartphones of its own.

So it looks like Apple will stay at the top - for the time being.

Shares of AAPL are the best performer in the smartphone sector with the stock climbed 68% so far this year and is the world’s largest company with market cap of $637.85 billion (as of September 07, 2012).