At the unveiling yesterday, Apple’s Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing, claimed the new iPhone 5 is the “world’s thinnest smartphone” thanks to its 7.6mm belt size. An Apple executive is somewhat of an authoritative figure in the mind of people, so the Internet was buzzing about how the iPhone 5 is the thinnest smartphone in the world. Everyone except the folks at Strategy Analytics.

While most people, including myself, simply took Apple’s word for it (after all, why would Apple lie to the face of millions of people), Steve Entwistle of Strategy Analytics was fact checking Apple’s claim. According to Entwistle, Apple is dead wrong about its claim to have conjured the world’s thinnest smartphone. Entwistle says Motorola’s AZR XT909, DROID RAZR CDMA, and RAZR XT910 all come in at 7.1mm at their thinnest point, making them thinner than the iPhone 5. Entwistle does concede if Motorola’s three devices are measured at their thickest point (such as at the bottom “bump” or “chin”) then they are indeed thicker than iPhone 5’s 7.6mm. However, Entwistle goes on to say the Huawei Ascend P1 S (6.68mm), Fujitsu ARROWS ES IS12F (6.70mm), and Pantech Vega S5 (6.89mm) are all thinner than the iPhone 5, although Entwistle does caution that he has not independently verified the thickness claims of these three devices — these are the numbers reported by the manufacturers.

Of course Entwistle is in no way insinuating that the Ascent P1, ARROWS ES, and Vega S5 are better devices than the iPhone 5. The magic of the iPhone 5, as some may argue, is that may not be the thinnest device ever but it is thin plus has excellent build quality and features. In other words, the Ascent P1, ARROWS ES, and Vega S5 may be thinner than the iPhone 5 but that doesn’t make them better — which is probably true, despite the iSheep-ness of the thought. However, intentionally or not, there is definitely some egg on Apple’s face here.

[via Strategy Analytics, BGR]