Smartphone wave to wash over North America this year

Don’t go bragging about the great smartphone you bought just yet.

That do-it-all personal communication device is about to lose a lot of its lustre.

Smartphone suppliers are set to release a bumper crop of devices in North America over the next seven months.

Palm will launch its much anticipated Pre device on June 6 with Sprint in the United States, Apple will likely introduce a new iPhone in June if not the third quarter. A slew of devices, powered by Google’s Android operating system, will be released over the next six to seven months as well. Rogers Wireless, for example, will begin sales of HTC’s Dream and Magic devices on June 2 in Canada.

Not to be outdone, Research In Motion will probably introduce the second version of the Storm and a host of other devices (if widespread speculation is correct) in the back half of 2009.

Cell phone stalwarts LG and Sony Ericsson, will re-enter the North American smartphone market this year. Both companies have said they will begin selling smartphones, which will be powered by Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system, sometime after July.

You get the point. Smartphones are still viewed as a high-growth opportunity, which is increasingly a rarity in the tech industry, hence the flurry of product development and marketing activity on the part of manufacturers. Most North Americans still own traditional cell phones, which are typically used for talk and text messaging purposes. Conversely, smartphones contain a high-level operating system such as BlackBerry, Mac, or Windows Mobile that allow users to use location-based services for example.

But it’s widely believed that everyone will own a smartphone in future, which means cell phone makers are scrambling to help consumers with the cell phone to smartphone transition despite the economic recession that has gripped the world. It’s also seen as a wide-open market. Research in Motion dominates the North American smartphone market at present but low penetration, the term used to describe the relatively small percentage of wireless users that own a smartphone, has manufacturers salivating over the market potential.

Smartphones are also a higher-margin business for the manufacturers than traditional cell phones. Meanwhile, service providers love to push smartphones as it gives them a greater chance to sell lucrative data plans or data services, such as wireless e-mail, to consumers. This is especially true if there’s significant buzz around a particular smartphone such as a BlackBerry or an iPhone hence the desire to strike exclusive deals with manufacturers such as Apple or Palm as AT&T and Palm have done in recent years.

Consumers would be wise to hold off on a smartphone purchase until some of the dust settles. Manufacturers, meanwhile, will struggle to stay on top of the industry as product release cycles are quickening and people are increasingly fickle given the pace of change.