Despite numerous complaints of dropped calls and other few errors with its iPhone 3G, Apple Inc will most likely have a great 2008 fiscal year, most analysts predicted. The company’s Mac and iPhone sales climbed and, what’s most impressive, the increase happened during a growing uncertainty about the health of the economy.

Apple has recently launched the iPhone 3G on the markets of 20 other countries and analysts said the multinational corporation that produces consumer electronics and software may very well sell as much as 5 million of its new handset this quarter. Apple is also expected to break the previous record and sell more than 3 million Macs this quarter alone. The latest predictions exceed the previous estimations made by Wall Street analysts.

As for the entire fiscal year, some market watchers such as Piper Jaffray-analyst Gene Munster estimated that Apple would sell 13 million iPhone 3Gs and as much as 45 million of them in 2009, according to BusinessWeek. Munster’s estimation is the most optimistic, while other experts said Apple would vend approximately 11 million iPhones in 2008 and about 25 million next year.

Nevertheless, if Munster’s estimation proves to be right, Apple Inc, which operates more than 200 retail stores in seven countries, would exceed the number of smartphones shipped by Windows Mobile throughout the globe a year after releasing its first 3G handset. The iPhone 3G sales helped Apple get its hands on a 27% share of the U.S. smartphones market and managed to surpass previous top players such as Microsoft, Symbian, Linux and Palm OS.

However, it would be a sensational move if Apple, which had no market share about a year ago, manages to challenge and push Microsoft away from its position of world leader by the end of fiscal year 2009.