(Images courtesy of AppleInsider)

One analyst believes that Apple had another record quarter for the iPhone in the first three months of this year, with a new study showing those users are quite happy with their choice, thank you very much.

AppleInsider is reporting on UBS analyst Maynard Um’s projection that Apple has sold 7.5 million iPhones in the first quarter of 2010, up from his original estimate of 7 million. In a new note to investors on Wednesday, Um also notes that not only is Apple successful at snaring new handset users, they’re also doing a great job of keeping them as well -- with a retention rate as high as 95 percent, practically unheard of in the cell phone industry.

"While we believe that this retention can change rapidly, anecdotally during our survey we even received emails from three respondents asking when the next iPhone will be available," the analyst writes.

Um is collecting his figures from a recent Q-Series survey, which finds that Apple is leading the smartphone industry both in mindshare as well as retention rate -- not only do customers want the iPhone, but once they get it, they don’t want anything else. A full 90 percent of iPhone owners think that Apple is the best handset maker on the market today, compared with Research in Motion’s Blackberry at 42 percent.

Ironically, even 40 percent of the customers surveyed who own a competing Nokia handset believe that Apple is the best smartphone manufacturer -- which is probably a very troubling sign for the Finnish handset maker in the wake of Nokia’s patent suit against Cupertino. Only 27 percent of Nokia users preferred their brand, although smartphone owners were more loyal, with 60 percent saying theirs was the best.

Of course, no analysis would be complete without a look at the iPad, which hasn’t even been in stores for a full week yet. Um expects Apple to ship 2.1 million iPads in the 2010 fiscal year, which will grow to 4.6 million next year.

"Although we remain bullish on the long term evolution of the iPad into the central console for the home, over the near-/medium-term, until we see more compelling apps to drive mass market adoption, we prefer to be cautious on overall adoption," the analyst concludes.