Apple's much touted iCloud is not designed to attract new customers, but to keep existing punters locked into Jobs' Mob's walled garden, a leading analyst has warned. Forester's Charles Golvin said that for people who own one or more iOS devices, they're going to discover an even better experience.

He said iCloud will keep customers because once they've used the service, they will hesitate to leave the Apple ecosystem because they will lose all the data they have stored. Since they do not have to worry about where their content is stored, it will make them feel that much more satisfied with their smartphone or tablet, and means that the next time they go to buy one, they're more likely to buy from Apple.

Carolina Milanesi of Gartner told Computerworld that the most important thing is that it is a complete cloud package. It will be a way for Apple to retain customers in the face of a rising tide of Android-based smartphones, and growing competition from media tablets that run Google's operating system.