RIM, Google and Nokia offer better prospects for operators and developers.
RIM plans to open its own app store next March, taking just a 20% cut in download revenue.
Having just issued the first Android-powered phone, Google will open the Android apps market at the end of October with some 50 apps. As with Apple, developers will get a 70% cut. But the rest goes to billing settlement fees and the carriers - Google takes nothing.
That leaves Nokia, which plans to take Symbian open source next year. It has more than 50 members, but hasn't said how it will do business in the new world of mobile applications. Nokia's open-source conversion will drive it away from the old-style proprietary approach and toward partnerships with carriers and developers.
That's good news for operators that have only just embraced the advantages of open over closed systems in mobile apps. How long before Apple learns the same lesson‾