Many consumers believe that the iPhone is the be all and end all of smartphones, and while it is a revolutionary product, the competition, and maker of the business-class Blackberry can only see green. The iPhone may daunt sales of Blackberry’s parent company, Research in Motion (RIMM), but it’s important to note that the stock price is higher than ever. Much of this can be directly related to the incredible sense that the business-class wont switch over to the iPhone. This could potentially be one of the iPhone’s negatives. The fact is that many people need word and spreadsheet processors, alongside fully functional chat and e-mail clients. RIM’s Blackberry products consistently deliver to this consumer base. Also, an interesting theory has been suggested since the introduction of the iPhone. Consumers may actually be looking at the Apple (AAPL) device, and then researching what the entire product line-up of smartphones has to offer. Those consumers may find that the iPhone doesn’t suit all their needs, and a Blackberry product may work much better. At the end of the day, both Apple and Research in Motion may be able to co-exist in the smartphone/phone market, and both do quite well.

Disclosure: Long Apple Inc. (AAPL)

On a brief note, Apple Inc. (AAPL) released news today that the company would need to delay the release of its new operating system, Mac OS X Leopard. The release has long been planned for Spring, but now, the release should be in October.

“…iPhone contains the most sophisticated software ever shipped on a mobile device, and finishing it on time has not come without a price — we had to borrow some key software engineering and QA resources from our Mac OS X team…”

While the iPhone has been making great progress, it seems as though Apple’s number one priority will not be the Leopard release. Unfortunately, Apple stock could see a number of negative days before the release of the new OS. In after hours trading on Thursday, AAPL was down -1.77 a share. The coming weeks could continue to be bumpy, and rumors have been brought up about a possible slow down in Apple system sales leading up to the release. Fortunately, I don’t see too much downside if the iPhone release goes smoothly, and many competitors also know this.

Another notable drop in stock prices was Research in Motion (RIMM). Down -8.16% on news of a formal suit on patent infringement. Smartphone makers should continue to see slides in stock prices Pre-iPhone release, and further outlook on the phone makers will quickly be determined by early iPhone sales numbers.

Conflicts: Long Apple Inc. (AAPL)