Toronto, March 6 (IANS) Apple's iPhone is set to overtake Research In Motion's BlackBerry in the global smart phone market by next year, according to Forbes online.

Currently, BlackBerry enjoys about three percent of the world's mobile phone market, while Apple's has about two percent share of the market. But BlackBerry's lead over iPhone is shrinking and Apple will overtake RIM by early next year, Forbes said Friday.

'We expect Apple's market share to overtake that of RIM by 2011, and for Apple and RIM to have 11 % and 8% market share, respectively, by the end of Trefis forecast period,'' the online issue said.

Trefis has been defined as a new financial platform to know how a company's products impact its stock.

'We believe sales of the iPhone will eventually outpace BlackBerry sales,'' Forbes said.

Giving its reasons, Forbes online said, 'Apple's ecosystem of consumer products (Macs, iPad, Apple TV) and services (iTunes, iPhones apps) make the iPhone a more attractive phone for many consumers compared to the BlackBerry.'

' End of AT&T exclusivity will give Apple's iPhone wider distribution in the US (comparable to BlackBerry distribution).

'iPhone is making inroads with business customers that have traditionally preferred the BlackBerry.''

Both the wireless giants have made big gains since 2007, with iPhone increasing its market share from 0.3 percent to 2 percent, and BlackBerry going up from one percent to about three percent.

The Canadian icon BlackBerry captured the world's corporate market because of secure messaging.

However, with Apple's sleek iPhone gaining the consumer market, the numbers game is slowly slipping away from the BlackBerry.

Given Apple's marketing muscle, online reach and multiple cutting-edge products with synergy, analysts say it is only a matter of time before the iPhone overtakes the BlackBerry in the global smart phone market.