Apple Becomes No. 2 Smartphone

Apple’s popular iPhone has elbowed its way past RIM’s BlackBerry to claim the No. 2 spot in the global smartphone market in the third quarter, reports vnunet.com

According to figures from research firm Canalys, overall smartphone shipments increased 28 percent over the same period a year ago.

Apple shipped nearly 7 million devices, taking 17.3 percent of the market. Still, shipments by No. 3 RIM grew more than 80 percent, giving it 15.2 percent market share. Nokia retains in the global crown,  though its shipments decreased slightly to 15 million units and a 38.4 percent market share.

Meanwhile, in the U.S. overall mobile phone market, Samsung toppled Motorola for the top spot with phones that do much that the iPhone does, according to figures by research firm Strategy Analytics.

Bloomberg reports South Korea’s Samsung nabbed 22.4 percent of the U.S. market, up from 17.9 percent a year ago. Motorola, No. 4 in the global market, lost share from 32.7 percent a year ago to 21.1 percent. Analysts say it needs to add more smartphones to its lineup.