The best way to beat the iPhone? Don’t try to copy it

Three years since the launch of the iPhone, the iPhone is the de-facto smartphone. The only option for other handset makers now is to stop copying the form factor of the iPhone and differentiate themselves in other ways.

The first iPhone was maybe not a great phone, particularly feature-wise, but it has been universally acknowledged as a huge step forward in phone design. It became dominant. As with any case of a dominant design, other phones rush in to imitate.

Fjord's Christian Lindholm is blogging for VentureBeat throughout the week of Mobile World Congress, read about a few first developments to keep your eyes on.