Up till recent everyone believed that Motorola’s RAZR would be able to maintain his throne in consumer sales for some time. Then again, the iPhone didn’t share this belief and now the statistics place it on top of the charts.

Previous business figures has the RAZR still in the lead, although the device was known for losing its breath.

“The displacement of the RAZR by the iPhone 3G represents a watershed shift in handset design from fashion to fashionable functionality,” said Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis for NPD. “Four of the five best-selling handsets in the third quarter were optimized for messaging and other advanced Internet features.”

In addition, Apple is also credited for getting on a higher ground n the smartphone vendor competition. Apparently, RIM lost its number 2 spot to the Cupertino rival and will have to get used to wearing the bronze medal for the time being.

The top handset models in rank order, based on unit sales in Q3, are as follows:

1. Apple iPhone 3G
2. Motorola RAZR V3 (all models)
3. RIM Blackberry Curve (all models)
4. LG Rumor
5. LG enV2