( CNN ) -- When Apple introduces new iPhones on Tuesday , as everyone expects them to do , the company that practically created the smartphone will face an unusual task : keeping up with the competition . There 's still plenty to be said for the iPhone 's sleek , simple design , easy-to-navigate operating system and tidy `` closed garden '' app environment . But as phones running Google 's Android operating system , particularly Samsung 's , have gained in popularity , iPhone owners have increasingly found themselves looking around and wondering , `` Why ca n't my phone do that ? '' Many Android phones have bigger screens than the iPhone . Some are water-resistant and can even snap photos underwater . Android apps can update automatically . Users can control Motorola 's new Moto X phone with their voice , without touching it . And that 's just the beginning . Add to that the fact that many in the tech world saw the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 as incremental advances , not the seismic leaps forward we 'd come to expect from Apple , and you 've got the more pressure on the company to ramp up the `` wow ! '' factor . `` The smartphone market is more competitive overall , and in the high-end it has become a duopoly between Samsung and Apple , '' said Carolina Milanesi , a consumer-technology researcher with Gartner Research . `` Many feel that Apple needs to regain the distance they once had over their competitors . '' The iPhone has remained the world 's top selling smartphone , save for a few quarters when it was dethroned by phones in Samsung 's Galaxy S line . But after making up nearly 24 % of all smartphones sold in late 2011 , Apple 's device is now down to about 14 % , while Android phones account for a whopping 79 % . The iPhone and iPad `` were revolutionary when they first came out , but ( rival ) products that are out there now are about as close to Apple 's devices as they 've ever been , '' Scott Kessler , an analyst at S & P Capital IQ , told CNNMoney . `` The question is whether Apple is going to introduce products that are different enough from their competitors . '' So , what could we see come Tuesday ? The most high-profile feature that 's been rumored for the new iPhone is a fingerprint scanner . Such a security feature would let users register a finger or thumb print and use it to unlock their phone . There are reports the phone could be able to access LTE Advanced , a network that would make it faster than phones with 4G connections . That network is not yet available in many areas of the U.S. , however . Apple reportedly also is looking at adding bigger display screens for the iPhone , but they would likely be for future models , not the phones coming this week . As usual , Apple is expected to upgrade the phone with a faster processor , better battery life and an improved camera . But those are the sort of pragmatic upgrades that , while arguably most important to user experience , do n't turn heads the way a novelty like Siri , the iPhone 4S 's voice-activated digital assistant , did in 2011 . Milanesi says Apple needs something more than standard upgrades to get its mojo back . But that shot of adrenalin might arrive in an unconventional way . `` Apple needs a new 'hero product , ' but I do not think it necessarily has to be a phone , '' she said . `` With technology innovation slowing down , maybe they are better off turning iPhone into a market-share grabber and showing innovation in another product . '' The most likely candidate there could be the company 's anticipated `` iWatch . '' Apple is all but certain to be joining the emerging smartwatch market that Samsung entered last week with its Galaxy Gear device . If Apple blows away the competition with a watch that transcends the existing options ( as well as those expected from Google and Microsoft ) , it could bring back some of the excitement that once met the unveiling of groundbreaking products like the iPod , iPhone and iPad . Opinions are split as to whether Apple will introduce a watch Tuesday . Apple typically does n't launch other major products at iPhone events . But an iWatch rollout later this year or in early 2014 would miss at least some of the coveted holiday-shopping season while giving Samsung and other smartwatch makers a big head start in the marketplace . Then there 's the long anticipated , but yet unseen , Apple TV set ( as opposed to the Apple TV streaming device that already exists ) . Moving onto customer wrists , and into living rooms , might deflate pressure to sex up the iPhone . Still , it 's hard to imagine a tech world in which the iPhone is n't seen as an elite device . That 's why , when CEO Tim Cook takes the stage Tuesday in Cupertino , all eyes will be on him .
Apple is expected to introduce new iPhones on Tuesday . Many say company needs to make a splash to match its competitors . Comment: Analyst : Other products , not the iPhone , may re-establish Apple 's rep for innovation .