Vittorio Hernandez

Smartphones running on the Android operating system sold in the second quarter of 2011 enjoyed a 43.4 percent market share, up from 17.2 percent for the same period in 2010.

In contrast, Apple's iPhones had an 18.2 percent market share for the same period, slightly up from 14.1 percent compared to a year ago.

The figures, released by research firm Gartner on the eve of the roll out of iPhone's new version, indicates how strong a competition the Android OS has become for Apple. It has prompted the U.S.-based firm to file patent infringement lawsuits and seek temporary injunctions against South Korean-firm Samsung, whose Android phones and tablet computers are threatening the market share of Apple.

Although Samsung is not the only user of Android OS, it represents the biggest threat to Apple's dominance of the smartphone and table computer market.

The market for consumer loyalty is not only between buyers of the smartphones but also among app developers who now are also designing apps for the more popular Android.

To beat competition, Apple entered into a deal with Sprint Nextel to sell the new model to customers, expanding the outlets the smartphone could be purchased from the current AT&T and Verizon stores.

Analysts, however, said Apple's real competition is itself by needing to top features of previous models to excite buyers. Among the features of the new iPhone analysts are expecting are faster microprocessor to run apps at faster speed and a more powerful camera.

There are also expectations of improved voice recognition capabilities, particularly voice navigation and speech to text features, after Apple acquired in 2010 Siri, a start-up tech firm.

Other speculations include the next iPhone will not be an upgraded and redesigned iPhone 5, but a refreshed iPhone 4. Reports also indicate the new iPhone will have a 16GB, 32 GB and 64 GB model.