iPhone dominates, ranked 3rd in smart phones

By: Steven Chu
Staff Writer
Published: Feb 9, 2008

Apple moved over 2 million iPhone devices during fourth-quarter 2007.

According to a report by Canalys, the Apple iPhone is now the No. 3 smart phone in the world based on fourth-quarter 2007 sales. Apple earned 6.5 percent of the worldwide market, behind runaway leader Nokia (52.9 percent) and second-place Research in Motion (11.4 percent), while passing Motorola (6.5 percent).

The iPhone was recently introduced in Britain, France and Germany in November.

In the United States, the iPhone eventually took 28 percent of the marketplace in the fourth quarter, trailing BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion, with 41 percent, but ahead of Palm, with just 9 percent. This carefully places the Apple device ahead of all Windows Mobile devices (21 percent) in the United States.

Domestically, the findings seem to mirror third-quarter statistics for smart phones, which clearly indicated the iPhone had 27 percent of the U.S. market.

Experts suggest that Apple will need to respond by expanding its cell phone lineup remain ahead.