O2 still the “home of smartphones”?

O2 recently said it was the “home of smartphones” (see quote in here), but with the recent iPhone announcements (see here for example), it looks like other Operators are lining up some mobile powerhouses also – let’s compare O2 and Orange for example:

Orange

• BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) Bold & Curve & Pearl
• HTC Hero
• Toshiba (OTCPK: TOSBF) TG01
• Samsung i8910 Omnia HD
• Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Dext (soon)
• iPhone 3GS (soon)
• Nokia (NYSE: NOK) N86

That’s a pretty reasonable spread isn’t it? Taking in BlackBerry O/S, Android, WinMo, Series60, and Apples O/S. Nice.
So What about O2?

O2

• O2 XDA Zest & Guide
• BlackBerry Bold & Curve & Emerald
• Nokia &3 & N86
• iPhone 3G & 3GS
• Palm (NSDQ: PALM) Pre (soon)
• HTC HD2 (Leo) – (rumoured soon)

So pretty much the same selection of Operating Systems there too, apart from adding Palms WebOS.
T-Mobile, Vodafone , and 3UK haven’t (to my mind) made any big seasonal announcements yet (OK, so VFUK did ‘announce’ iPhone 3GS today!), but when they do, you can assume it will be driven by, or include, smartphone device(s). In simple terms, the Operators are going to become very similar very quickly, in terms of the smartphone device portfolio offered – and whilst it might be good for tariff and device pricing, networks won’t be differentiating on hardware so much – shame, because there’s nothing better than a restrictive exclusivity deal to stir up news and opinion