iPhone Killers, Blackberries and Chicken Parts (Guest Column @ O'Reilly Radar)

(Backdrop: Recently, I upgraded to the Blackberry Tour, an experience that left me pondering why so many solution providers confuse delivering a bunch of 'chicken parts' with producing an actual, living, breathing chicken.)

MG Siegler, over at TechCrunch, has written an excellent article that shines a light on the cycle from hype to disappointment that goes with being dubbed an 'iPhone Killer.'

BlackBerry Storm, Palm Pre, the G2, and now Droid have all been touted as contenders to the mobile computing crown, yet the iPhone continues to kick butt.

No less, Apple has levered its market leadership position with iPhone (and the iPod Touch) to create a halo effect on the rest of its business, generating bottom line results that are industry-defining (see analysis of Apple's Q4 results HERE).

Meanwhile, conventional wisdom, shaped by the history of Apple vs Microsoft during the PC Wars, tells us that Android is 'destined' to be bigger than the iPhone worldwide.

And to be clear, would-be iPhone slayers are indeed establishing strategic positions that have the potential to become compelling and differentiated within the mobile market. Examples include:

• Android: We are more open than Apple;
• RIM: We are more enterprise-ready;
• Palm Pre: We are more web-native;
• Android, RIM, Nokia, et al: We are a heterogeneous device platform. 

But, alas, there is a fly in the ointment. Many of the above solutions are at a functional stage where they still fail to deliver a 'more than the sum of the parts' experience - at a time when Apple is clicking on all cylinders from a product innovation and new product pipeline perspective.

Read the full article HERE.

Related Posts: 

1. Android vs. iPhone: Why Openness May Not Be Best
2. The Right Stuff: Apple's Q4 Earnings Call
3. Rebooting the Book: One Apple iPad Tablet at a Time