Apple could be under pressure

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Apple could be under pressure

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By Editorial Team (Friday, 26th September 2008)

Apple's dominance of the music mobile phone market through its iPhone is facing stiff competition from a number of other manufacturers.

When it was first released, the latest model of the iPhone exploded onto the mobile scene reaching the five million sales mark earlier this week, according to the company.

However, with Nokia's new Comes With Music package now on sale, Sony Ericsson's "all you can eat" music downloads and the release of Samsung's latest Beat model, Apple is facing a strong challenge.

Nokia announced that it is releasing the 5800, a model which resembles the iPhone and offers users a 3.2-inch touchscreen, Wi-Fi access and 140MB on-board storage.

With a strong history in the music market, Sony Ericsson's music phones, such as the W980i or slightly lower spec W760i, look set to continue to sell well and offer an attractive alternative to the iPhone.

Karl Sharpe, site editor of UK Web Media, noted that Sony Ericsson is always "strong" in this market noting that as Sony had "pretty much invented portable music with the walkman", its music playing products tended to be consistently attractive options.

Those who are looking for an affordable music phone option may wish to look at Samsung's range of Beat phones.

The disadvantage of this range is that the models are not 3G compatible so downloading music from the internet may take a long time, although cheaper contract offers may make these phones a more affordable option.

Mr Sharpe noted that the increased range of music phones would be "good for consumers as people have more choice".

He added that the influx of new models and the unlimited download packages offered by Nokia and Sony Ericsson meant that "Apple could have a bit of a fight on their hands".