Apple’s new iPhone appears to be winning ground on the U.S. corporate market, which up until recently was clearly dominated by Research in Motion Ltd’s BlackBerry. The number of units sold in the third quarter by the two companies points out that each of them has a significant user base, as Apple managed to sell 6.9 million iPhones and RIM reached the 6.1 million mark. Both companies had a great run and the trend seems to continue. Apple managed to get 17.3 of the market, while RIM boosted its BlackBerry shipments with 83 percent and also gained 5 market share points.

RIM appears to have the better overall strategy, as its offer and upcoming releases should successfully cover every demand. The company released several new models such as the Storm, the Bold and the Pearl. The Storm represents RIM’s first attempt with a touchscreen smartphone and received many positive reviews thanks to its e-mail, messaging and calendar capabilities, but also clickable touchscreen and its 3 megapixel camera with zoom, flash and video-recording options.

Even though several companies such as Nike Inc., Walt Disney Co. and Genentech Inc. announced the transition to Apple, the company still has a long way to go before reaching RIM’s figures, as the company is still the leader in the enterprise segment. The security requirements of certain industries such as finance and government will be difficult to win over as they demand, among other features, higher e-mail security.

Still topping the charts is Nokia, the world’s biggest smartphone manufacturer, with its 38.9 percent of the market share. During this third quarter, the company sold more than 15.5 million units. Even though its position for now is secured, it was the only manufacturer in the top 5 to record a decline in unit shipments. The minus was of 3.8 percent and should keep the company’s officials on the lookout. The fourth place is taken by Motorola, which also has great expectations for the beginning of next year when its Google-powered device is scheduled for release and the fifth place is occupied by HTC. HTC also had a great run with its G1 release and it is expected to continue over the next few months as the interest in smartphones is higher than ever at this point.

“It was expected that Apple would figure among the smart phone leaders this quarter, with that huge initial new product shipment, it was just a question of how high up it would be - and this is impressive,” explained Mr. Pete Cunningham, a senior analyst at Canalys, as quoted by TgDaily. He also added that RIM numbers represent a huge performance, especially because of the delays in the release of its BlackBerry Bold and that it is very likely for the company to win back its number two spot in the fourth quarter, boosted by the release of the Storm and the Pearl 8220.

With the holiday season approaching, all companies are looking forward to cashing in on the gift-madness, putting together their reports and preparing the new releases.