According to the latest research report from The NPD Group, Research In Motion’s Blackberry Curve proved to be the highest selling consumer smartphone in the US in the first quarter of 2009, finally halting the Apple iPhone’s dominance.
The findings highlighted that the Blackberry Curve’s market share increased by 15 per cent over the quarter to claim nearly 50 per cent of the smartphone market. Both Apple’s and Palm’s share both declined 10 per cent.
Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at The NPD Group, commented that this result is due to a buy-one-get-one-free promotion that Verizon Wireless ran with the Blackberry Curve.
“Verizon Wireless’s aggressive marketing of the Blackberry Storm and it’s buy-one-get-one-free Blackberry promotion to its large customer base contributed to RIM capturing three of the top five positions,” he said.
“The more familiar, and less expensive, Curve benefited from these giveaways and was able to leapfrog the iPhone, due to its broader availability on the four major US national carriers.”
The report also highlighted that the general smartphone category increased sales to hold 23 per cent of the handset market, up six per cent from 17 per cent in the previous quarter.
The top five smartphones in terms of sales are:
1. RIM Blackberry Curve (all 83XX models)
2. Apple iPhone 3G (all models)
3. RIM Blackberry Storm
4. RIM Blackberry Pearl (all models, except flip)
5. T-Mobile G1
“Even in this challenging economy, consumers are migrating toward Web-capable handsets and their supporting data plans to access more information and entertainment on the go.”