RIM Has a Winner with the Curve

By  |  Monday, May 4, 2009 at 10:48 am

curvecurveSorry Palm, there may be a device that can already take on the iPhone: NPD said Monday that in the first quarter, RIM’s BlackBerry Curve took the top spot in terms of smartphone sales. Half of all devices of this type sold in the quarter were RIM phones, up 15 percent.

Despite its problems, the Storm managed to take third spot, and the aging Pearl line still is holding on in fourth.

Overall, smartphones make up 23 percent of all cellular devices sold, up 6 percent from the year ago quarter. Analyst Ross Rubin said that even in the tough economy, consumers were still showing an affinity for fuller featured devices.

Apple and Palm’s share both fell 10 percent in the quarter. While Palm’s share could be expected to decline due to its product lineup issues, Apple’s fall is a bit surprising. It could be that those who want the device already have it, and that Apple must now give those on the fence or not considering the device a reason to.

Hmm.. so that’s why they are rumored to be talking with other carriers such as Verizon, or have additional iPhone models in the works? Based on this data, those reports now make a bit more sense.

Good news for T-Mobile also in this report: the G1 was the fifth highest selling device. With a new Android-based phone coming soon according to reports, T-Mobile may have a decent answer to AT&T and the iPhone for those anti-iPhone folks out there.

 
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  1. tom B Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 12:43 pm

    Verizon was doing a “buy one/ get one” with the Blackberry this quarter. Anybody can gain share by “dumping”. Gaining share and making a profit– or gaining share and having a FUTURE is more difficult.

  2. Dave Mackey Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 1:32 pm

    The Verizon deal pretty much explains why my wife and I now both have BlackBerrys. Now we don’t know how we ever got along without them.

  3. Ed Oswald Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 1:48 pm

    Tom – oh well! If that’s how they do it, then fine. The fact is, they beat the iPhone.. and dominated the smartphone market this quarter. That’s the facts…

  4. AB Says:
    May 4th, 2009 at 8:13 pm

    Ed,

    I’m surprised you didn’t mention that this survey was based on consumer surveys, not actual device sales data. Did you read the actual NPD press release?

    http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_090504.html

    Methodology: The NPD Group compiles and analyzes mobile device sales data based on more than 150,000 completed online consumer research surveys each month. Surveys are based on a nationally balanced and demographically representative sample, and results are projected to represent the entire population of U.S. consumers. Note: Sales figures do not include corporate/enterprise mobile phone sales.

    http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_090504.html