Twitter buys Tweetdeck, what does this mean for iPhone apps?

No sooner does Tweetdeck's new, improved iPhone app hit the App Store than Twitter announces they've bought it, and right out from under UberMedia to boot.

This deal is defensive for Twitter, say all the sources we’ve spoken with over the last couple of months. They simply couldn’t allow UberMedia to have so much market share in this space. The company has acquired UberTwitter, EchoFon and a number of other Twitter-related startups. Adding TweetDeck to the UberMedia stable of products would give them too much leverage over Twitter, say our sources, and so Twitter made a strong defensive bid to disrupt the deal. Which succeeded nicely, apparently.

What this means for the Tweetdeck app, the official Twitter app, and UberMedia's continued plans to sweep up competing clients is unclear. Could we see an Tweetdeck/Twitter for iPhone hybrid? Both kept separately? One abandoned completely to go all in on the other?

What do you want to happen? And what do you think will happen?

[TechCrunch EU via TechCrunch]

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.