Confronting tough rivalry from Apple's iPhone, Research In Motion (RIM) declared that it will more than double its client base.

At present, BlackBerry maker has 41 million users throughout the world - almost 3% of the worldwide mobile phone market.

Calling its base of 41 million clients "a good beginning," RIM president and co-CEO Mike Lazaridis announced that the next objective for his company is 100 million users.

While delivering a keynote speech at the yearly RIM-organized Wireless Enterprise Symposium in Orlando, Florida, Mike stated that the wireless giant aims to enter the mass market with novel application-laced cellular phones.

To aim the mass market, RIM is shortly rolling out BlackBerry 6, its new consumer-oriented mobile operating system software. Besides this, the new software will have advanced graphics and animation features.

The unveiling of BlackBerry maker's plans to enter the mass consumer market comes a month after Forbes released during the last month that Apple's iPhone is ready to surpass BlackBerry in the worldwide mobile market.

In March, Forbes said, "Apple's ecosystem of consumer products (Macs, iPad, Apple TV) and services (iTunes, iPhones apps) make the iPhone a more attractive phone for many consumers compared to the BlackBerry... iPhone is making inroads with business customers that have traditionally preferred the BlackBerry."

According to analysts, as BlackBerry tries to become a platform for all sorts of soft tools to attract the consumer market, its corporate customers may take a fresh look at device. (With Inputs from Agencies)