In the mobile industry, the hand phone operating system (OS) is currently being dominated by Apple's iPhone. The Apple iPhone is still the leading OS in the marketplace, with no sign of slowing down. In fact, other competitors like RIM, WinMO, Palm and Symbian have all posted southward trends. If there is no new player entering the market, it seems like the iPhone OS is set to take over the entire market.

The primary reason behind iPhone's huge success is that the OS allows third party applications to be installed in the phone. These applications are developed by third party software developers, and distributed through the Apple's official website. Having an open platform allows developers to respond quickly to consumers' requests. There is no need to wait for Apple to release apps. Based on the feedback received, developers can release useful applications in a matter of weeks. So far, no other OS has been able to match this capability. To date, the Apple iPhone has already captured an estimated 50% market share.

Fortunately, there is a new player in town - the Android OS. This new contender in the marketplace is developed by Google, and is based on a similar open concept. Developers can develop apps using managed code in Java. As Java is a mature programming language, many developers will have little problems picking up the development work. While the Android OS is still far from overtaking the iPhone, it is catching fast. In fact, it is the only mobile OS to have posted an upward trend (besides iPhone of course). In just a few short months, it has captured a market share of 5%.

As this is a new OS, only HTC has released Android supported phones - namely, the G1. Since the G1 phone is a new release, it is mainly used to gather information from the market place. Consumers who have picked up the phone are providing priceless feedback to the company. Based on the feedback, the next generation of the Android phone is currently being developed (the G2). Enthusiasts in the blogosphere are watching the developments very closely. So far, a lot of interest has been shown in the development of the Android phone.

This new development poses exciting possibilities. Other mobile companies would be keen to manufacture Android phones so that they remain relevant and competitive in the marketplace. Samsung and Sony Ericsson are both rumored to be working on Android phones. China telecommunications giant, Huawei Technologies, already announced that they will be releasing an Android phone for the Chinese market in the third quarter.

It will be interesting to observe the developments when more and more companies start to manufacture Android phones. Will iPhone be threatened in the marketplace? How will consumers choose between the iPhone and the Android phone? Much depends on the applications developed by the third party developers. The OS with the most active platform will eventually emerge as the winner.