Just before the iPhone 3G was released, a ChangeWave survey showed that the launch was likely to have a "tsunami-like" impact on the smartphone market. Even though the survey put Apple in the lead in terms of consumer planned purchases, RIM still leads in actual business market share and is planning new counteroffensives to keep it that way.

A chart of the overall smartphone market share shows RIM’s current lead.

Source: ChangeWave Research

Despite the smartphone market share lead, RIM is responding aggressively to the Apple challenge. "The Canadian manufacturer has multiple plans in motion to counter Apple’s momentum among consumers, including an already announced new product release (the Bold) and two likely additional product releases (the Thunder and Kickstart)," according to the report.

To get a better sense of what the new RIM products mean, ChangeWave conducted a new survey of 3,567 consumers to measure their reaction to the RIM counteroffensive.

ChangeWave reported: "Consumer respondents were presented a brief description containing key features of RIM’s new smart phone models, along with a follow-up question asking them how likely they were to buy each model if and when it becomes available. The survey found the new RIM releases each showing considerable potential among consumers once they actually get into the marketplace."

Source: ChangeWave Research

• A total of 4% of respondents report they’re Very Likely to buy the new RIM/BlackBerry Bold when it becomes available. Another 13% are Somewhat Likely.
• Slightly less positive but nonetheless significant, 2% of respondents say they’re Very Likely to buy a RIM/BlackBerry Thunder when available. A total of 13% are Somewhat Likely.
• Another 2% say they’re Very Likely to buy a RIM/BlackBerry Kickstart when it becomes available, and 11% are Somewhat Likely.

"These results show consumers hungry for all varieties of BlackBerry," said Tobin Smith, founder of ChangeWave Research and editor of ChangeWave Investing, who added, "it appears like when it comes to the BlackBerry, the adage ’if you build it, they will come,’ certainly holds true."

The ChangeWave report, authored by Paul Carton, Director of Research, also concluded that the new RIM models have a significant potential to lure customers away from other manufacturers, with Palm, Motorola, and Samsung the most vulnerable. Apple customers, on the other hand, appear least likely to buy one of the new RIM phones.

All this naturally leads to the question: can Apple infiltrate the enterprise faster than RIM can infiltrate the consumer market?