A new report from Gartner details the continued runaway success of not only the iPhone, but of touchscreen smartphones in general - despite the overall global sales figures for the mobile market decreasing.

“There were some signs of a recovery in markets such as North America and China, but overall sales in the first quarter of 2009 registered the biggest quarter-on-quarter contraction since Gartner began monitoring the market on a quarterly basis in 2001,” explains Carolina Milanesi, research director for mobile devices at Gartner.

But just as Apple is unaware the world is in economic recession, it appears equally unaffected by the mobile sales downturn. The iPhone has more than doubled its market share from 5.4 per cent to 10.8, while BlackBerry noticed an increase from 13 per cent to 20.

Despite the iPhone still being lower down the ladder than a lot of its more established rivals, its growth highlights the current demand for feature rich, preferably touchscreen smartphones.

And considering Apple's competitors earn their market share with a range of different handsets, the fact that a single model has devoured 10 per cent of smartphone sales is something the manufacturer can be very proud of.