Consumer demand for smartphones seems to be unstoppable.

In the third quarter, vendors shipped a record 43.3 million devices, up 4.2 percent from last year's third quarter and up 3.2 percent from this year's second quarter, says a report released Thursday by market researcher IDC.

Among smartphone vendors, Nokia still enjoys the greatest market share, according to IDC, with a 37.9 percent slice for the third quarter. Though the company has struggled in North America, it commands a huge worldwide lead. Results were aided by Nokia's pricey but popular N97and E71 phones. IDC is also interested to see how Nokia's new N900 smartphone/tablet fares with high-end users.

The demand for BlackBerry devices helped Research In Motion's third-quarter market share jump 35.7 percent over the same quarter last year--the highest jump of any vendor. With a 19 percent chunk of the market, the company now trails Nokia in second place. Though RIM has done best in North America, it's also seen an improvement in buisness overseas, says IDC. During the third quarter, the company debuted two new smartphones--the Blackberry Tour and Curve 8520.