Smartphone - Apple is No.3, Nokia is No. 1 but BlackBerry had the largest growth

A new research from Gartner has reported Apple, with just a single iPhone model, is No. 3 among global smartphone vendors for Q1 2008. Apple broke into the "Top 3" in the smartphone market with 1.7 million iPhones sold since it's debut last year. It seems that the iPhone is seen globally as a competent smartphone capable of competing with the best - even with all it's faults.

With increasing awareness among consumers of the smartphone segment and a strong sales push from carriers looking to increase their ARPU (Average Revenue Per User), the smartphone market has highlighted growth in the mobile phone industry. And, the ever increasing smartphone market seems to have helped Apple come in behind smartphone makers Nokia and RIM. Nokia took an astounding 45.2% (14.58 million units) of global smartphone sales, with RIM, makers of the ever-popular push-emailing BlackBerry lineup, garnering 13.4% (4.31 million units) of all smartphone sales.

Compared to the same period last year, smartphone sales grew 29%, with 32.2 million smartphones sold in the first quarter. The growing market didn't just help Apple, Nokia saw a 25.3% growth in smartphone sales in Q1. But, the most remarkable growth numbers belong to RIM - the BlackBerry maker increased smartphone sales by 107.3%.

So, will iPhone 3G be enough to not only meet its goal of moving 10 million units by the end of 2008, but also overtake the BlackBerry as the most sought-after smartphone? Guess we will have the answer pretty soon.