Global smartphone figures of BlackBerry and iPhone are pretty close in the race to the number one spot, although my money is on BlackBerry winning this race by a long-shot with three new handsets the BlackBerry Storm being Research in Motion (RIMM) first even touch screen launching along with the BlackBerry Bold and the BlackBerry pearl Flip all set to send the sales figures rocketing well into 2009.

Yes BlackBerry is stealing the show at the moment but with 3 great new handsets we wouldn’t expect anything else. But Apple (AAPL) who only have the iPhone and the iPhone 3G have managed to captivate 17 percent of the market with just 2 handsets bringing a healthy race for one of the smartphone world leaders.

iPhone sales are to reach 10 million before the end of 2008 according to Steve Jobs Apple’s CEO and we don’t doubt that Apple will succeed, rumours have been flying around that Apple have already reached the target.

Apple being such a strong brand has managed to keep the majority of its iPhone sales within its Apple Stores not partner stores which shows great brand recognition and strength.

Here is a quick glance at Apple (APP) and RIMs (RIMM) stocks at close Oct 9. RIMM rose 2.48 percent or 1.43 to 59.03. AAPL lost 1.17 percent or 1.05 to 88.74.

Source: Techspot