In the personal computer world it used to be Microsoft Windows vs Apple Mac vs Linux. In the mobile world it will be Microsoft Windows (Nokia) vs Apple iPhone (Apple) vs Android (Samsung) and a whole bunch of other brands, including Linux.
Some of the other brands run the Google Android operating system and others have strategies that include products featuring both Android and Windows 8. In the smartphone world, Apple is what Microsoft was to the PC world.
Apple locks in its users, decides what software becomes available to Apple devices and strictly controls all it’s entire vendor locked in client base whilst taking a huge percentage of all software developed for it’s devices. Sure it will be extremely profitable, it is also extremely easy to profit by stealing from babies, they hardly put up a tough fight at all.
Google is what Apple was in the PC world and well Linux? You can install Linux on your Samsung or on your Apple, but Linux is still to the mobile world what Linux was to the PC world, the underdog.