Apple shipped 14.5 million smartphones in the quarter, only half as much as Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK)'s 26.5 million shipped, but more than RIM's 12.3 million. (See AT&T Drunk on iPhone Success, Sony Ericsson Rises & Falls, and Nokia's 'Unpolished Gems'.)

RIM's co-CEO Jim Balsillie said just days earlier in response to Apple CEO Steve Jobs's tongue-lashing on its third-quarter earnings call that RIM has achieved record shipments for five straight quarters and recently shared guidance of 13.8 to 14.4 million BlackBerrys for the third quarter, slightly more than Strategy Analytics reports.
He said that comparing Apple's September-ending quarter with RIM's August-ending quarter doesn’t tell the whole story, because demand is stronger in the summer.
"As usual, whether the subject is antennas, Flash, or shipments, there is more to the story and sooner or later, even people inside the distortion field will begin to resent being told half a story," Balsillie jabbed.
The whole story is that smartphone sales have risen 78 percent since last year, Strategy Analytics says, due in large part to more advanced operating systems, touchscreens, and the boom in mobile apps.
"HTC and Motorola install proprietary user interfaces to differentiate themselves from the commodity Android experience," he said on the call. "The user’s left to figure it all out. Compare this with the iPhone, where every handset works the same."

Here's our unbalanced list of WP7 Wins and Wants:

— Sarah Reedy, Senior Reporter, Light Reading Mobile