War of the smartphones: Apple tees up iPhone 5 announcement as Nokia and Microsoft event begins

Apple's typically vague invite

Nokia and Microsoft are unveiling their joint range of smartphones today, cursing that their event is set to be dwarfed by a traditionally vague Apple invite.

Nokia is expected to launch two mobile devices using the new Windows Phone 8 operating system but will undoubtedly feel like their rivals have overshadowed them.

The Finnish firm Nokia, which lost its place to Samsung as the largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world, has recently announced a series of job cuts.

Apple’s highly anticipated iPhone 5 is expected to be announced on 12 September after an invite landed in the in-boxes of a select few journalists, just hours before Nokia and Microsoft’s big moment.

The tech company’s typically plain invite states: “It’s almost here,” followed by the number 12 which signifies the date of the announcement. It also casts a shadow of the number five, which relates to what Apple is widely expected to announce - the iPhone 5.

The event will begin at 10am in San Francisco and it is widely reported, though not confirmed, that the iPhone 5 will be announced and will go on sale from Friday 21 September.

The firm are also expected to announce a smaller version of its best-selling tablet, the iPad within the next few months.

Apple’s latest mobile device is expected to sell extremely well and, according to some analysts, could exceed 250m units sold.

Phill Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, said: “Each new generation [iPhone] sold is approximately equal to all previous generations combined.”

“Bearing in mind that the 4S is likely to remain in production at least one more year means it has a potential to come close to the target of 162million,” he added

“This leaves us with the question of how many iPhone 5s will sell. As it stands today, the cumulative total would have to be greater than 263million units.”