BlackBerry CEO Thorsten Heins has taken direct aim at Apple, branding it's iPhone model as old.

Claiming the Cupertino firm has lost it's edge in the smartphone market, as reported earlier by TechDay, Heins' potshot comments come days before BlackBerry is set to release new products into the key U.S. market.

As several analysts claim the iPhone 5 could fall below shipment expectations during this quarter, it appears smartphone warfare is at boiling point.

Yet is it a wise move to kick your enemies while they are seemingly down?

Fresh from Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller slamming Google's android mobile operating system only a day before Samsung launch the Galaxy S4, BlackBerry has got in on the slanging match.

Believing devices from Samsung, HTC and BlackBerry, of course, show complacency in the Apple ranks, Heins couldn't resist a not-so-subtle dig at his rivals.

“History repeats itself again I guess … the rate of innovation is so high in our industry that if you don’t innovate at that speed you can be replaced pretty quickly," Heins told The Australian Financial Review.

"The user interface on the iPhone, with all due respect for what this invention was all about, is now five years old.

"The point is that you can never stand still. It is true for us as well.”

While slagging off Apple remains fashionable, perhaps Heins and co. should wait until the iPhone 5S/6 is released before passing comment.

For a company not exactly thriving in the smartphone market, Apple would do well to ignore such petty levels of provocation - arguably aimed at increasing BlackBerry awareness days before it launches into the States.

The old saying of people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones rings true, and until Apple is officially struggling, by BlackBerry's standards, logic boasts Heins should keep quiet.

After all, a wounded animal is a dangerous one.

Is Apple knocked from it's perch? Are other companies catching up? Tell us your thoughts below