Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) will launch its newest iPhone in the market, dubbed iPhone 5, today, following a similar event by competitors last week. So how is iPhone 5 fairing against its peers? JMP Securities has come up with a comparison matrix that highlights the key areas of the new iPhone as compared to the rest in the market.
The firm compares Apple’s iPhone five against the likes of Samsung Galaxy S III, Nokia Lumia 920, HTC Corp (TPE:2498), Motorola Solutions Inc. (NYSE:MSI), and LG phones, that have been launched this season. Some of the comparison items include the screen size, O.S, performance, and imaging.
How Big are the Screens?
It is highly expected that iPhone 5 will have a 4″ screen, as compared to the predecessor iPhone 4s 3.5″. While a majority of Smart phones have had their screen sizes range between 2.8″ to 4″ over the past, the most recent launched smartphones, have raised the bar in matters screen size to around 4.7″.
Samsung Galaxy note has 5.5″ screen while LG Optimus has a 5″ screen; HTC Corporation’s HTC thunderbolt has 4.3″, while Smasung Galaxy S III has 4.8″ screen. Nonetheless Apple’s screen boast a retina display screen that is expected to keep thickness down while raising the resolution, and has an aspect ratio of 16:9.
The Operating Systems
It rarely happens that Apple would launch a new device to run on its old O.S. This season, it is no different as the new iPhone 5 will be running on a match advance iOS 6. On the other hand, the like of Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK)’s Lumia 920 have taken full advantage of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Windows 8 O.S, and will belooking to challenge the market as one of the few smartphones running on Windows.
Samsung Galaxy S III and Galaxy note will be running on the new advanced O.S from Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s android O.S, while Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) (TOT:RIM)’s Blackberry 10 is still thereabouts.
Rapid Advancement in Processor Performance
The smartphones are becoming more like hand held advanced computers, able to edit various documents, including spreadsheets, presentations and word, among others, besides their amazing portability advantage. This among other reasons has driven the need for faster smartphones, which has resulted into advancements in processors. This season has seen smartphones with processor speeds of 1500 MHz, with some operating on duo and quad core versions.
However, according to JMP Securities analyst, Alex Gauna, Clocks and Cores are not everything, as Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has the ability to fine-tune and optimize its software and hardware than any other player in the business. Nonetheless, these specs are subject to scrutiny, and will be a big factor in the marketing campaigns. Samsung Infuse 4G runs on 1.2 GHz, while a majority of the rest including the current iPhone 4s run on 1GHz.
How Strong are the Cameras? Image Matters
The recently announced LG Optimus is on top of the pack as we speak with 13.2 MP, this is way up the bar from the current competition in the market with the likes of Samsung, HTC, Motorola, T-Mobile smartphones and Apple’s iPhone 4s having 5MP or 8MP.
Additionally, a good number of the new phones also have in-video and rapid burst image capture,which is absent from the iPhone 4S. This therefore raises the expectation by Apple’s iPhone five potential customers up, as we wait for the big announcement.
Finally, it would be interesting to see how Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) plays its cards with battery life and NFC, as many competitors have already embraced it in their new gadgets.
As ta the time of this writing, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) shares were trading at $660.84 per share, up $0.25, or 0.04% from yesterday’s close. JMP Securities have maintained a perform rating on the stock, despite the upcoming event.
