Apple’s iPhone is being well-received among business smartphone users, despite its reputation as a consumer-friendly product, J.D. Power and Associates said yesterday.

The iPhone fared better than BlackBerry maker Research In Motion and better than Samsung, which took second and third place in the 2008 Business Wireless Smartphone Customer Satisfaction Study, J.D. Power officials said.

The study examines ease of operation, operating system, physical design, handset features and batteries. HTC, Motorola and Palm took fourth, fifth and sixth place.

“With the introduction of the iPhone in 2007, Apple has clearly differentiated itself from the competition in areas that are most important to business smartphone users,” analyst  Kirk Parsons said. The latest iPhone 3G version added Microsoft Exchange support and, as its name suggests, 3G Internet access.

A quarter of all business smartphone users still experience software glitches, but that’s to be expected as smartphones become more like computer and less like simple telephones, Parsons added.

The study of 1,388 people also found that 69% of business smartphone users own a hands-free headset, only 23% feel a touch screen is important and 34% download aftermarket software.