You may remember Will’s post from friday on Apple leapfrogging RIM in market share according to recent studies. I’ve been reading a bit about that lately and simply wanted to provide my take on it, plus add a lovely chart for you all to see where the numbers are at. As you can see in the chart i’ve included, it compares smartphone shipments from Q3 of 2008 to Q3 of 2007.

In the research done by the folks at Canalys, numbers show that global sales and shipments of smartphones has hit a new peak (despite the weakening economy!). In Q3 of 2008, just under 40 million units shipped. With the data they collected, it means that smart phones now represent around 13% of the total mobile phone market, up from 11% in Q2.

Interestingly enough, the introduction of the iPhone 3G has helped Apple make HUGE leaps and bounds in the market, moving them up to 2nd place globally… and a rise of 523% in Q3 2008 when compared to the numbers in Q3 2007. The big gain has seen Apple rise to 2nd position on the list, passing Waterloo-based RIM. They also had higher shipments in comparison to ALL Microsoft-based smartphones combined. Impressive.

That being said, the holiday season will most certainly not be as rosy for the Cupertino-based Apple. You only have to take a look as far as the now 3rd-placed RIM to see the evidence. Not only are they revving up the PR machine on the new BlackBerry Storm, but the Bold is now hitting the stores as well. With no new smart phone device to push during the holidays, I would expect RIM to jump ahead to take 2nd place back… But we’ll see.

For more info, and to read the full report you can head over to Canalys here. A very interesting read.