Tuesday, May 5, 2009

RIM Jobs...BlackBerry Throws iPhone A Curve



The Register is reporting that an NPD survey of the US smartphone market in Q1 2009 has revealed that RIM's workhorse BlackBerry Curve outsold the exalted iPhone. Here's the Top 5 in order:
  1. RIM BlackBerry Curve
  2. Apple iPhone 3G
  3. RIM BlackBerry Storm
  4. RIM BlackBerry Pearl
  5. T-Mobile G1
This specific result & the fact that RIM jumped to ~50% share of the US smartphone market can be attributed to: 1) Verizon Wireless's Buy One, Get One promotion on BlackBerry devices during the Feb & Mar 2009; 2) iPhone sales cooling to 1.6mil units (down from 2.4 in Q4 2008) as the faithful eagerly await the announcement of the next model; 3) RIM's diverse, quality and still aspirational product line.

btw -- Palm has totally dropped off the map...that Pre can't come soon enough.

Another interesting data point in this NPD survey highlights a trend I've been tracking for months now...the transition of US consumers from "dumb phones" to smartphones. According to NPD the US handset market for smartphones jumped from 17% in Q1 2008 to 23% in Q1 2009...which is great news for those companies that provide mobile entertainment experiences for consumers. This trend will continue...if not quicken over the next year. Frankly, I think within 5years it's possible that the 12key mobile handset goes the way of the dodo.

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