Apple will lag in the “post smartphone era” as the market moves to more immersive, touchless experiences, ABI Research predicted, tagging Amazon and Google as leaders for the next wave of innovation.

In a report, the research company argued Apple is suffering from “innovation complacency”. The company looked at patent portfolios, R&D spend, acquisitions, and contributions to standards bodies and open source communities in its evaluations. Ten companies were profiled – Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Huawei, Lenovo, LG, Microsoft, Nokia and Samsung.

“This next wave of innovation in the smart device ecosystem will be led by Google and Amazon, as their apparent strength in major growth sectors, notably computer science, allows for a more flexible approach to next-generation user experiences that are essential for creating immersive experiences and brand-new ways of human-to-machine interactions,” David McQueen, research director at ABI Research, commented.

Apple, Samsung, Microsoft and Huawei were tagged “followers/advocates”, and are “not currently as well set-up to drive future innovation in the market”. These companies also have legacy positions in the smartphone space, which give them “little flexibility to innovate outside the box”.

But while they are down, they are not out due to the major influence they hold in the market, mainly through brand and market share.

With an evolutionary approach to investment, “followers/advocates” fear disruption to their current market leadership and, as such, find it harder to embrace more disruptive approaches to technology, McQueen said.