Worldwide smartphone shipments grew 37.2% last year, and Apple’s iPhone saw the greatest success – 97.9% year-over-growth in shipments. Besides, Nokia's shipments also jumped 37.3 percent and Research in Motion saw a spike of 41.2 percent.

Based on the data and current situations, analyst Charlie Wolf with Needham & Company pointed out that the smartphone market has turned into a “land grab”. iPhone enjoys an absolute advantage in the battle, so that's "virtually certain" to lead to a brutal battle between Microsoft and Google.

According to Wolf: “Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Series won’t kill the iPhone … but it will be a potential Android killer… Android has a few advantages, in that it licensees do not have to pay any fees, and it allows manufacturers to differentiate their phones from other Android devices with custom interfaces. But Android also has no presence on the enterprise market, where Microsoft and its entrenched position with Windows will play to the Redmond, Wash., company’s advantage."

Mr. Wolf also observed that Palm has a “superior platform” in the Pre, but the company “simply does not have the financial resources to market its devices at a level comparable to its competitors. But miracles do occur occasionally.”