“The iPhone is now not only the second most popular smartphone in the world but has saved the smartphone industry from a decline this past summer, according to a research note by Needham analyst Charlie Wolf,” Electronista reports.

“Apple’s handset has represented about 16.6 percent of the entire smartphone market worldwide for the quarter ended in September and is now second only to Nokia,” Electronista reports. “The latter has already acknowledged struggling smartphone share but is now known to have plummeted from 63.3 percent of the market a year ago to 43.6 percent owing largely to the spike in iPhone sales triggered by its 3G version.”

“Apple’s relaunch has been strong enough that it ultimately masked a potential stall in the overall smartphone market. While the rate of growth was flat between spring and summer at 28.6 percent, Apple’s presence has been the “only reason” the market didn’t slow down significantly, Wolf says,” Electronista reports. “In the US, Apple is now also second only to RIM, earning about 30 percent of the country’s smartphone sales through the iPhone versus the BlackBerry lineup’s 40 percent. Windows Mobile and Palm OS are continuing to decline with Microsoft’s platform holding 17 percent and Palm less than 10 percent.”

Much more in the full article, including some interesting charts – recommended – here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Brawndo Drinker" for the heads up.]

There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. – Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, April 30, 2007