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.

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