Apple iPhone 5 absence at WWDC 2011: A big miscarriage?

A no show by iPhone 5 at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2011 could turn out to be a big miscarriage by Apple, marking a tectonic shift in Smartphone race favoring rival Android-based phones.

Apple, who had been introducing new generation of iPhone every June for the past three years, decided not to bring new information on iPhone 5 at WWDC 2011. The main presentations of WWDC were iCloud, iOS 5, and OS X Lion instead. The rumor has it that iPhone 5 will be available this Fall, presumably in September, but Apple has not confirmed this.

It has been already a year since Apple iPhone 4 was made available, and already Android-based phones have been taking over the market.

Apple iPhone is no longer No. 1 in terms of market share. Compared to Google's Android, which has 36.4 percent market share according to a recent report by ComScore, Apple iOS-based iPhone is far behind at only 26 percent. The third placed RIM's BlackBerry has 25.7 percent market share, just a hair behind Apple.

The sales in the U.S. was also not impressive for Apple (8.3 percent), as the company fell behind Samsung (24.5 percent), LG (21 percent), and Motorola (15.6 percent).

While Apple fans argue the enormous amount of apps in App Store compared to what is available for Android-based phones, a Nielsen survey indicates that the actual downloaded apps in App Store on average is lower than those who use Android.

If Apple had presented iPhone 5 at WWDC 2011, equipped with new operating platform iOS 5 and new cloud service iCloud and flavored by Steve Jobs' showmanship, it could have been a major opportunity for iPhone to triumph again in the smartphone market.

However, Apple’s bold move of not showing the new generation iPhone at WWDC might turn out to be an act of shooting oneself on the foot.

While the rumors suggest iPhone 5 will have improved specs, such as 8 MP camera, A5 processor, a 4-inch display, 1080p output, curved glass screen, a SIM-less design, 3-4 internal antennas for both GSM and CDMA networks and 4G connectivity, by the time iPhone 5 does come out, it may not be so new and trendy anymore.

Other Android-based phones are already in line to be launched, such as HTC Evo 3D, the Motorola XPRT, the Motorola Titanium, Samsung Gravity Smart and Samsung Exhibit 4G.

Is Apple growing soft and losing its grip over the smartphone market? Or is iPhone 5 going to come up with something flashy that could not only catch up with its rival Android smartphones but also beat them?

We will find out when the new iPhone comes out – but it may not be for another several months.