Standing up in front of the world’s press, or quietly letting the numbers be published and just nudging people to draw their own conclusions? In their own ways, both Apple and Nokia this week laid claim to be the “the biggest company in mobile devices.” Steve took the stage, and Olli-Pekka left it to the annual results. And they were both right. Read on.

You were probably expecting me to take a side here? Far from it. Both companies are, to all intents and purposes, in a war to claim the high ground and define the role of mobile tech in the second decade of the 21st Century. That means proving they are the biggest – be it through unit sales numbers, raw profit, or the sneaky re-definition of a category to maximise their products and minimise the opposition's.

However the battle is declared, it’s how it is perceived and reported that matters. The cheerleaders who latch onto the phrase du jour, the companies trying to spin the reporters that do their best to look over the entire industry; and all so the general public even tangentially pick up some of these signals and perceive X to be bigger, and thus better, than Y.

So it’s interesting to see Apple get called out for this practice both by the BBC (via Rory Cellan-Jones at his dot.Rory blog) and The Motley Fool (asking “Who’s Laughing Now, Mr Jobs?”). The truth, of course, lies somewhere in between, but it’s interesting now that Nokia themselves, via Mark Squires on Nokia Conversations, have stood up and said “just wait a minute…”

A mix of bravado from Apple and Nokia finally deciding to fight their own corner through more than press releases? It’s going to be a fun 2010 and beyond!

-- Ewan Spence, Jan 2010.