Say what you like about Steve Jobs, he knows how to generate buzz.

Electronics fashion victims the world over were holding their breath last night as Mr Jobs prepared to unveil Apple's next-generation iPhone. And not just the fashion victims. The iPhone is on the fast track to the mass market.

Apple has spent the past couple of months snapping up contracts with mobile operators around the world and has freed carriers to subsidise the phones. Mr Jobs has even done a U-turn on its cherished operator exclusivity, agreeing deals with more than one carrier in countries such as Italy and India.

Cynics say that the change in strategy reflects disappointing iPhone sales. By March, Apple had shifted only 5.4 million iPhones - with only 340,000 of these sold in Europe - yet has a target of ten million by the end of the year.

Apple unveils £100 3G iPhone

The next-generation iPhone will go on sale in the UK and US on July 11 and will feature faster web browsing and GPS

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Yet maybe this was always part of the plan. When it comes to mass market, Apple has a knack for getting it right. Last year its iPod music player surpassed the 100 million sales mark to become the fastest-selling electronic device of all time.

Apple is also shifting its business model to take a 30 per cent cut on all software applications sold for the iPhone.

These can be downloaded to the phone from Apple's on-line “App Store”. By making this simple, Apple may just succeed where the mobile operators have struggled.

The original iPhone transformed the smartphone market, igniting an explosion of e-mail and internet-enabled phones.

Critics doubt that Mr Jobs will be able to do it again.

Other handset-makers are catching up and the market is so competitive that rivals are launching copycat versions on the same day - Samsung, the South Korean electronics giant, unveiled its touchscreen Omnia i900 hours before Mr Jobs was due on the podium.

But there is more to Mr Jobs than buzz and few have made money betting against him.

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