By MG's usual standards the post can actually be called borderline reasonable. The trouble with getting a handle on the mobile phone market is that most analys

By MG's usual standards the post can actually be called borderline reasonable. The trouble with getting a handle on the mobile phone market is that most analysts often pick up only the US market or the smart phone market and form their conclusions based on it. Another issue is when most of the online discussions on the iPhone/Android competition turns into an all-out brawl with only the usual talking points thrown in. I use a Galaxy S I9000. I like the phone. It is not perfect. I could probably have aimed for the iPhone, but it was at least $100 more where I live (India). Keep this price in mind, it is very important. What is the cheapest iPhone you can get today, without a contract? Most of us India buy the phones pretty much at the full price. Even if I assume that the iPhone will be priced at half of what it costs here, it would still be more expensive than some of the Android phones made by the local manufacturers here. I don't ever see Apple doing an iPhone Starter Edition. There were some 100 million-plus mobile phones that were sold in India in 2009. I am sure that 99% of those were not either a Samsung Galaxy S or an iPhone. Between iOS and Android, the odds are much better on Android to tap into those potential 99 million sales. This is the reason why Android will grow even stronger next year. But it won't be at the cost of the iPhone.