iPhone 5 rings thin

Despite two million pre-orders in 24 hours and gazillions of column inches in media coverage, the iPhone5 has been labelled as ''disappointing" and lacking in the ''wow" factor.

Analysts still expect it to sell an estimated 45million units in the Christmas quarter, and the phone continues to earn Apple bucket- loads of revenue.

What does this dissatisfaction - in some instances schadenfreude by the Apple haters - say about Apple's latest product? Or expectations about Apple launches?

What does it say about us as consumers?

First a little context. Apple has been making the iPhone for a little more than five years. It was announced in January 2007 and released in June that year.

It now accounts for more than half of the company's revenue and nearly half of sales, significant because these devices have the highest profit margin in the stable. Overall market share is estimated at about 9% by researcher Horace Dediu from Asymco, who believes Apple has ''75% of profit share, [and] nearly 40% of revenue".

So Apple, with just one handset in an industry where manufacturers have tens of different devices, accounts for two-thirds of all profit. Not bad for a five-year-old.

These figures are not new, nor is the statistic that Apple sells more of each new iPhone model than it did of all previous models put together, as The Economist reported.

''Since the launch of the original iPhone in 2007, it has brought in $150-billion in sales revenue, with $74-billion of that in the past year. The iPhone is Apple's biggest product, accounting for 53% of the company's revenue. Indeed, if the iPhone were spun out as a separate company it would be bigger than Microsoft, whose revenues were $73-billion last year," The Econo- mist said last week. Can you blame Bill Gates for not letting his children own an iPhone?

Business Insider's Henry Blodgett estimates that ''iPhones likely account for more than 60% of Apple's profits".

The iPhone5 may have the same 8-megapixel camera as Samsung's GalaxyS3 and a smaller screen (10.16cm to the S3's 12.19cm) and be technically inferior (if you believe Samsung's adverts and the Apple haters).

But the smartphone industry, like computers and portable media players and online music stores, are all Apple watchers.

In Samsung's case, a California court confirmed what everyone knows, calling them copiers. But the South Korean firm is not alone - every other cellphone-maker has adopted the large touchscreen model Apple reinvigorated in 2007. Apple is the benchmark against which other companies and their products are measured.

Fireworks and revolutionary leaps forward are expected of every iPhone launch. Like it or not, Apple sets the tone for the industry and the expectations from consumers. As good as phones like the S3 and HTC's arguably superior OneX are, the iPhone will stay top dog.