Accu-Chek partners with Mylestone Health to enhance iPhone app, Web site

NEW YORK The fact that Roche has enhanced its capabilities across its iPhone app platform really only means one thing: Roche has dialed into a new way to reach its users, and it’s a way that is very rapidly growing in market share.

And what should be really telling about all of this iPhone action — it’s all opt-in, meaning consumers are actively interested in engaging with the manufacturers of their healthcare products in an effort to better manage their health.

Worldwide, mobile phone sales totaled 308.9 million units in the third quarter of 2009, a 0.1% increase compared to the year-ago period, according to research firm Gartner, Inc. Smartphone sales, which would include Apple’s iPhone, surpassed 41 million units in that time frame, up 12.8% compared with the year-ago period.

That suggests just about everybody has a cell phone, and more and more that cell phone is going to be a smartphone. “Smartphones continued to represent the fastest-growing segment of the mobile-devices market and we remain confident about the potential for smartphones in the fourth quarter of 2009 and in 2010,” stated Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner, in a press release issued early November.

According to Gartner, here’s how the smartphone market share breaks out: Nokia 39.3%; Research in Motion 20.8%; Apple 17.1%; HTC 6.5%; and Samsung 3.2%.

According to recent poll from ChangeWave, 39% of all Americans polled currently own a smartphone. Of that sample, 77% own either an Apple Palm, or RIM branded device, with more and more leaning toward an Apple iPhone purchase.

Currently, there already are more than 100 health-related applications available for the Apple products, including FDA for iPhone and WebMD Mobile, reaching more than 40 million users.