Apple’s evolution on the smartphone market is considered a great success, as in just one year and a half, the company managed to reach the second position, with its business surpassed only by Nokia.

At this point, Nokia, the market’s distant leader, holds 38.9 percent of the market share; Apple is in second place with 17.3 percent and Research in Motion holds the third position with 15.2 percent.

Since the debut of the new 3G iPhone on July 11, Apple recorded sales of almost 7 million units worldwide, slowly reaching RIM from behind and getting one step closer to Nokia, which recorded a drop of over 12 points from last year’s 51.4 percent.

The fourth quarter is expected to become the scene of some intense market-share battles, as many believe that RIM will take back the second position with the help of its new released BlackBerry models, the clamshell version of the Pearl and the 3G Bold. Another factor might be Apple’s ability of sustaining its shipment levels.

The results for the fourth quarter are closely connected to the holiday season and during this period all the companies are considering the best possible approach, to make sure that they will make the best of the profitable season. RIM appears to have a better strategy than Apple, offering several new models that focus on certain demands of the public and managing to cover a wider market. Still, the iPhone’s commercial appeal is well known and considering the fact that the company is so certain of its success that it chose to stick with only one model, we should agree that anything can happen.