Something's happening tomorrow...what was it again? Oh yes, the launch of the iPhone!

Apple's new wonder-machine is being released tomorrow (June 29th) at 6pm amidst the biggest load of hype since the launch of the Motorola ROKR (the ill-fated and much criticised "iTunes phone"). Indeed, so much coverage is being give to the iPhone at the moment, that other manufacturers are running for cover and hiding their new releases until the hype blows over.

Suffocating iPhone coverage

Even trade shows are suffering. The Digital Experience event in New York is currently underway, and was meant to showcase the latest new gadgets, including mobile phones. But with the iPhone launch imminent, there are no new gadgets on display - at all!

And why would there be? Companies spend millions developing their new gadgets, and need to get as much buzz as possible for them if they're to be successful in the marketplace. With the hysteria surrounding the iPhone, they've got no chance, as any announcement they make will be drowned out in a sea of iPhone noise.

You can see the problem vividly from this graph from BlogPulse, below. The blue line shows all posts for iPhone in the past 6 months, while the orange and green lines show Nokia and Sony Ericsson, respectively.

As you can see, the number of posts containing the words Nokia and Sony Ericsson have been pretty much static throughout the year, whereas the number containing the word iPhone goes stratospheric very quickly.

The big spike back in January was during the iPhone's big announcement. Now we're coming closer to the actual launch, an you can see that things are starting to spike again. This graph is going to go through the roof tomorrow!

So with this much hype for a competitor's product, Nokia, Sony Ericsson and all the other mobile phone manufacturers have no choice but to keep very very quiet about their product launches.

Mobile Manufacturers' strategies

It's interesting to compare the different strategies of the competing mobile phone companies. Sony Ericsson decided to announce its entire range of new phones in one big event at the start of June, thereby guaranteeing themselves some quality hype. Nokia, meanwhile, has been more quieter, announcing a few low-end phones, but keeping its powder dry.

The same is true for Motorola, LG and Samsung, too, each of whom has been conspicuous by its absence in announcing new products (particularly Samsung, who normally announce a new phone virtually every day!).

With Sony Ericsson's strategy, we know what phones are going to go head to head with the iPhone. This could be risky, as a direct comparison can be made, and Sony Ericsson's phones may not come off the best.

With Nokia and the other manufacturers, however, things are less clear cut. Whatever new devices they have up their sleeve, we don't yet know about, so if they don't make the grade compared to the iPhone, the companies in question can always go back to the drawing board and add a few tweaks before announcing them to the world.

Countdown to d-day

All this means that tomorrow is going to be a mad iPhone day, and probably most of July is going to be very quiet for the other manufacturers, as they wait for the iPhone noise to quieten down.

It'll be interesting to see who comes out with the next big launch first, though, and when. If the iPhone gets the same press as the PS3 did when it launched (i.e. not good), then expect some major announcements from the big players in the next week or two (not to mention the odd "we told you so!").

If, however, the iPhone is greeted like the Nintendo Wii was (a generally unanimous "wow, Wii want one!)", then July and August are going to be very quiet months in mobile phone land!

The clock's still ticking - less than 24 hours to go. Mobile phone land will never be the same again!