A lot of comments suggest that Apple and maybe even Google are deliberately keeping HTML5 performance subpar. I think this misses a key fact: Google has struggled for years to make native Android apps match iOS performance, even for simple things like scrolling a list. The fact is Apple set a standard with iOS that is incredibly hard to meet regardless of the technology.

The conclusion is sound though. Companies that build mobile apps using HTML5 in 2012 will almost certainly face the fate of companies that built web apps using Java applets in 1998.