By Mary Lisbeth D’Amico

Symbian CEO Nigel Clifford said Tuesday he sees no major competitive threat from Apple’s new iPhone.

In fact, the top executive of the world’s leading mobile operating system maker claims he welcomes Apple’s move into the market, particularly in North America.

“The American marketplace is an underdeveloped marketplace for smartphones. This could educate the American consumer that there is more that you can do with a phone than treat it as an email device,” said Mr. Clifford, referring to the potential success of the iPhone in the United States.

“The single-use device will soon be challenged by other devices,” he predicted.

Mr. Clifford made the remarks in response to a question posed at a press conference held by Symbian at the 3GSM Conference in Barcelona. He also said the United Kingdom-based company is putting increased focus on bringing advanced phone capabilities to midrange mobile phones that cost under €199 ($258).

“People think of smartphones as something big, ugly, and expensive,” said Mr. Clifford. “It’s time to lay to rest that myth.”

Optimistic about Growth

A smartphone is a general term for a mobile phone with advanced capabilities, such as Internet access and calendar and email features. It can also include the ability to take photos, download video clips, and play music.

Currently, about one-third of Symbian-based phones fall into the “under €199” category. In the fourth quarter of 2006, the company shipped 4.5 million midrange smartphones, according to the mobile research firm Canalys.

Mr. Clifford also expressed optimism about future growth in the smartphone market, noting IDC’s prediction that 250 million smartphones will ship by 2010.

He said that over the past six months, four factors have come together that should finally boost the market: falling prices, more broadly available mobile services, higher penetration of mobile broadband, and improved devices.

“This is increasing consumer demand and will trigger the next wave of growth,” Mr. Clifford predicted.

Symbian Shipments on the Rise

Symbian also announced Tuesday that 51.7 million phones with its operating system shipped in 2006, a 52 percent increase over the previous year. The strongest growth came from China, Japan, and the U.S. Europe saw only a tepid growth rate of 15 percent in the number of smartphone shipments last year.

The privately held company—owned by Ericsson, Nokia, Panasonic, Samsung, Siemens, and Sony Ericsson—reported revenues of around £165 million ($322 million) in 2006.

It did not give further details, but company executives said Symbian is profitable. Symbian currently is the market leader in smartphones, with a 73 percent share of the global market, according to Canalys.