UK-based analyst Generator Research reckons that Apple will be the leading smartphone maker by 2013, selling 77 million handsets that year and taking a 40 per cent share of the smartphone market.

What about Nokia? Well, the analyst thinks the Finnish firm's market share will have halved to around 20 per cent by then, selling just 38.5 million smartphones in 2013.

Generator Research gives several reasons for its prediction, including Apple's pure focus on smartphones, its App Store ecosystem, its financial strength and design expertise.

Are they right? The usual caveats apply - nobody can accurately predict what Apple or Nokia is going to do in the next five years, so forecasting their market shares is crystal-ball-gazing at its most unreliable.

There's no doubt, however, that the momentum is currently with Apple, although as Generator Research points out, it may need to expand its iPhone range to truly bite into Nokia's market share.