Here I thought J.D. Power and Associates only ranked cars. It turns out, however, that smartphones are also on their to-rate list.

And guess who’s number one?

Apple’s iPhone ranked above RIM and every other smartphone maker in this year’s Business Wireless Smartphone Customer Satisfaction Study. Apple wasted no time in bragging about the accolade: I spotted their full-page ad in the Wall Street Journal last Tuesday (above). And why not? J.D. Power and Associates ranks “ease of operation” the highest in its study (27% of the final score), and what’s easier to use than the iPhone?

Says the company in their press release:

Apple ranks highest in overall smartphone customer satisfaction with a score of 778 on a 1,000-point scale, performing particularly well in the ease of operation, physical design and handset feature factors. BlackBerry manufacturer RIM (703) and Samsung (701) follow Apple in the rankings.

The ad appeared on the back page of the A section of the Wall Street Journal, and aimed its message directly at enterprise professionals. Apple’s ad highlights the “enterprise support” and “hundreds of of amazing business apps in the App Store.” Any questions about Apple trying to attract the suit-and-tie crowd have been answered.

And here some fools think Apple is scared of RIM, the maker of the BlackBerry (money quote: “the number of shortcomings in the iPhone 3G far outweigh those found in the Storm.” Right-o).

With great rankings like those from J.D. Power and Associates, what’s there to be scared of?