The smartphone market is now a two-horse race between the Apple iPhone and the RIM BlackBerry, according to a ChangeWave research report released on Tuesday. Palm is fading quickly, Android is not likely to gain much traction, and the iPhone has overwhelming customer satisfaction.

During March 17-24 ChangwWave surveyed 3,597 consumers and found that the smartphone industry has transformed into a race between only RIM’s BlackBerry and Apple’s iPhone. While RIM remains on top, the iPhone’s market share is climbing rapidly.

Source: ChangeWave

The expectations of buyers is even more dramatic. Those surveyed were asked which smartphone they were planning to buy in the next 90 days. Palm is dropping off the chart while the iPhone has started to surpass the BlackBerry.

Source: ChangeWave

In terms of customer satisfaction, the percentage of iPhone users who said they were Very Satisfied was just under 80 percent. RIM was at 54 percent, and all other manufacturer’s were below 50 percent.

Source: ChangeWave

Finally, customers were asked about the Google Android. While a few expressed interest even though a product is not yet shipping, ChangeWave surmised that Android is unlikely to make headway against the two leaders. "... based upon the quickly evolving RIM vs. Apple competitive landscape -- and the fact that both companies have high customer satisfaction ratings -- the likelihood of Google’s new smartphone software competing against either the Blackberry or Apple iPhone operating systems seems farfetched at this point," ChangeWave’s Paul Carton reported.

ChangeWave also pointed out that the carrier race is also a two-horse contest betwen AT&T and Verizon. "In terms of planned buying going forward, AT&T appears to be getting a bump-up based upon Apple’s recent flurry of announcements. When Apple planned buying goes up among consumers, so does AT&T by virtue of their exclusive carrier agreement with Apple," the report concluded.