Apple's iPhone is not the best smartphone on the market. The iPhone 3G is a device which costs around $170 to make, a far cry from what Apple charges for it. However, the iPhone is part of an ecosystem which is designed to work very well, just like any Apple product. Building on the success of iTunes, Apple's AppStore stands out as the one feature which most distinguishes the iPhone from competing products, some of which are significantly better hardware-wise.

On the second place there's that cool interface, but it has already been replicated. The 3G consumes too much power and is not available everywhere, while the GPS chip is not really accurate and can only provide applications your approximate location to bring up localized services and information.

The analysts have already started to make some forecasts and they concluded that by the end of 2009 the AppStore will generate between $150 million and $230 million in revenues for Apple. Apparently, around a quarter of these applications are free, while most of the rest cost less than $10. About a third are games. The applications can only run on iPhones and iPod Touches updated to the latest firmware, 2.0, or on the iPhone 3G which includes the new firmware.

Already, the AppStore seems to walk on the footsteps of another successful Apple money-making scheme: iTunes. AppStore is the new iTunes, Apple's newest cash cow which automatically pumps out 30% of all revenues to top its maker's pockets.