Despite complaints, iPhone 3G scales U.S. smartphone charts

It was slammed for iffy 3G reception, dinged for buggy app performance, and pummeled for poor battery life—but in the end, the iPhone 3G had the last laugh by outselling every other U.S. smartphone over the summer.

The NPD Group just came out with its cell phone sales charts for June through August, and the iPhone 3G was tops when it came to smartphones, accounting for 17 percent of the market and outselling the BlackBerry Curve, the Pearl, and the popular Palm Centro.

And consider this: The iPhone 3G didn't even come out until July 11, halfway through the NPD's summer survey period.

That's pretty impressive, considering all the bad press the new iPhone got just after its worldwide launch—what with endless lines of customers, launch-day activation foul-ups, complaints of dodgy 3G data reception, and ongoing grumbling about poor battery life.

Then again, all you had to do was look at the long lines snaking around Apple Stores—for weeks, mind you—to know that Apple had a hit on its hands. And with the arrival of iPhone firmware 2.1, which (by most accounts, at least) has pretty much solved most of the nagging 3G problems, sales may well continue to grow.

That said, the iPhone 3G will get some serious competition in just a couple of weeks. Set to go on sale October 22, the T-Mobile G1—the first of the Google phones—had already sold out, although T-Mobile is still taking pre-orders.

Also on deck: The BlackBerry Bold, which was supposed to go on sale through AT&T over the summer but has apparently been delayed for further testing.

So, what's your take: Will the iPhone 3G continue to dominate U.S. smartphone sales in 2008? Or will contenders like the G1 or the Bold steal its crown?