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The numbers above, released today by market research firm Canalys, tell an interesting tale about how the iPhone and Apple are creeping up in the ranks of "converged devices" (smart phones and wireless handhelds) globally. The end result? Apple took third place in the last quarter, despite have limited geographic coverage.

Canalys estimated Apple had 6.5 percent of market share during Q4 2007, which is up from zero this time last year. The company reportedly shipped some 2.32 million iPhones during this period, which was enough to put it behind Nokia and RIM in world wide converged devices domination.

If you narrow it down to just the United States, Canalys said, Apple took 28 percent of the same market place, which was enough to put it behind RIM and way ahead of third place Palm.