The fact of the matter is that the lack of Flash compatibility is a gaping hole in the iPhone’s online functionality. It’s estimated that 98 per cent of desktop computers have Flash installed, and it’s become the primary method for displaying videos, animations and advanced visuals on web pages.

“It’s a hard technical challenge, and that’s part of the reason Apple and Adobe are collaborating,” Adobe’s chief executive officer, Shantanu Narayen, told Bloomberg Television at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “The ball is in our court. The onus is on us to deliver.”

Even Steve Jobs has commented on Flash in the past, and personally asked Adobe to put together a streamlined version of its framework.

But Adobe’s facing difficulties beyond that of software development, as the harsh economic climate is also taking a toll on the company’s share prices.

While this might prove to be an inroad for Microsoft to begin rolling out its Silverlight competitor to Flash, the likelihood of Microsoft’s system appearing on the iPhone is even slimmer than Adobe’s, which should make the iPhone something of a priority to further cement the system's online dominance.

One question that’s inevitably raised when talking about the iPhone and Flash is whether the system will be subject to any deliberate limitations, or whether developers will be able to put together browser-based Flash apps aimed directly at Apple’s handset.

There’s a distinct possibility that it’s this concept that’s proving to be the problem…