An assessment of the sales performance of the Apple iPhone, the overlap of customers with RIM, and new phone designs from RIM suggest that Apple and RIM may be on a collision course, according to Business Week on Wednesday. Others, however, see the war forming between Apple and RIM against the traditional phone makers, Nokia, Samsung and Motorola.

Apple's sales goal, 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008, and RIM's sales of about 12 millions phone per year are similar. Target markets are overlapping in some cases. RIM sold over 1.3 million phones last quarter to non-enterprise customers, BW author Arik Hesseldahl said in his reference to a well known Silicon Valley observer.

Other analysts, like Andy Heargraves with Pacific Crest Securities, see the war shaping up between companies that "get" smartphones and the established vendors. Bear Stearn's analyst Andy Neff agreed: ""The battle is not RIM vs. Apple, but smartphones versus conventional handsets."

The traditional competition is struggling to find its way. "Having tied its smartphone strategy to Microsoft with its Q phone line, Motorola hasn't generated much traction, while the popularity of its once red-hot RAZR line of conventional handsets has cooled substantially," Mr. Hesseldahl observed.

Meanwhile, Nokia is focusing on music in its recent agreement with the Universal Music Group, and TMO notes that it's not yet clear yet whether focusing on music and competing with iTunes is a plus or forces the competition into an awkward position.

"So whether the main competition is between Apple and RIM or more generally between smartphones and traditional cell phones, consumers -- and their thumbs and ears -- will surely take note," Mr. Hesseldahl concluded.