According to a very detailed AppleInsider article via a research note by Needham analyst Charlie Wolf,  the iPhone 3G has managed to rescue the world’s smartphone market from a decline this past summer.

It rose to claim roughly 16.6% of the world’s smartphone market by the end of the most recent quarter back in September and places Apple just beneath Nokia.

“Apple’s iPhone 3G, introduced in July, is the only reason smartphone growth did not slow in September,” explained analyst Charles Wolf. “Apple shipped almost seven million iPhones in the quarter, accounting for all of the sequential shipment growth in the quarter and then some.”

It is probably safe to say that at least someone is doing well during these troubled economic times.