Beats it in how easy it is to create, yes. But HTML5 is cross platform, and if done properly, the speed differences are not noticeable to the human eye.<p>In fact, "Fastbook" is proof that an HTML5 app can be FASTER than it's iOS counterpart. <a href="http://www.sencha.com/blog/the-making-of-fastbook-an-html5-love-story" rel="nofollow">http://www.sencha.com/blog/the-making-of-fastbook-an-html5-l...</a><p>Check out their video. They literally duplicated the iOS functionality, and made it faster, with HTML5.
I loved this quote: "The best way of creating that awesome app is not to insulate yourself from the power of the operating system you are running on but to embrace it."