Apple Thoughts: Android and Windows Phone 7 To Become Commodities?

"The iPhone may end up as the 'last man standing' amongst smartphones in terms of holding onto profits and prices, argues Needham & Co. analyst Charlie Wolf. Wolf notes that in the immediate future, competition amongst smartphone platforms -- namely Android and Windows Phone 7 -- may help phone makers like HTC and Motorola dictate prices. In the long term though, smartphones based on either platform may become commodities, no longer able to pull a special premium."

I can't imagine that this is a surprise to anyone. It directly reflects Apple's way of doing business. They are a boutique hardware manufacturer that controls the entire manufacturing process from the bottom up. Google and Microsoft, on the other hand, are software manufacturers. This is the same exact thing that happened with Windows (and will probably happen with Chrome OS). Honestly, though, I don't see this as a bad thing for anybody. It just means there will be competing products at a reduced cost, and that'll drive Apple to improve iOS.