BlackBerry Leads, iPhone Follows U.S. Smartphone Sales

[SteveW]

BlackBerry Leads, iPhone Follows U.S. Smartphone Sales

The reason for RIM's success? It's been able to broaden the appeal of the BlackBerry to more than just professionals, an IDC report found.

By Marin Perez
InformationWeek
May 30, 2008 07:57 PM

Research in Motion sold the most smartphones in the United States for the first quarter of 2008, more than doubling the nearest competitor's market share, an IDC report found.

The report found RIM (NSDQ: RIMM) grabbed 44.5% of the market for the first three months of 2008, up from 35.1% in the previous quarter.

RIM has successfully been able to broaden the appeal of the BlackBerry to more than just professionals, said IDC analyst Ramon Llamas. With new consumer-friendly devices like the BlackBerry Thunder and the BlackBerry Bold, RIM is well-positioned to be a strong presence in the "prosumer" segment.

Apple's iPhone came in second place with 19.2% of the market in the first quarter, a drop from 26.7% the quarter before.

One reason may be that the fourth quarter included the holiday shopping season. More recently, consumers may be wary of purchasing an iPhone when there's reportedly a 3G version right around the corner (although, there's a report of a delay).

Palm found itself in third place with 13.4% of sales, up from 7.9% in the fourth quarter. One key factor was the release of the Centro in February, IDC said.

Samsung was in the fourth slot, with 8.6% of the market, up from 5.1% the previous quarter.

Things weren't as positive for Motorola (NYSE: MOT) or High Tech Computer. Continuing on a downward trend, Motorola dropped from 7.5% share in the first quarter to 2.6% in the first. HTC's share fell to 4.1% from 7.9% in the previous quarter, the report found.

IDC did not reveal the total number of smartphones sold in either quarter.

Original...



SW

[RJB]

To bad RIM cant get non data phones going on the side. That do not require a BB plan.

[SteveW]

There are several interesting things about this to me. First, Nokia the largest mobile manufacturer, isn't in it at all. Nokia has a well-regarded smartphone OS, lots of smartphone models and even some US retail stores, but apparently they're not selling in any appreciable numbers. I guess some of the Samsungs use the S60 OS, but I'm sure that's just a bit of the revenue that Nokia would like to have.

Second, Motorola hasn't been able to move into the high-priced part of the market and is evidently in an overall decline. Third, HTC, a company that concentrates on smartphones, is somewhat lower than I would have thought. HTC is the OEM for many of the carrier brands, so I wonder if these numbers count those phone models.


SW

[RJB]

I really think Nokia would love to have larger sales in the USA. But it seems like they cant attract people like they used to. I know in the late 90's into the early 2000's nokia phones were everywhere. I know the nokia e71 should be coming to AT&T hopefully that will be a hit and take off.

[Mobile Mike]

I'm not surprised RIM is doing so well. They have a variety of phones to suit different tastes, they have phones will all major carriers, and they wisely refresh older models.

With the Bold coming out soon, RIM continues to improve itself. The Thunder should be interesting since it will be a Verizon exclusive here in the States. I wonder how the "exclusive carrier" approach will work for them with the Thunder.

The iPhone is good, but it needs to be refreshed. Hopefully the new version will address many of the shortcomings of the first version.

Sprint has a "Instinct versus iPhone" comparison teaser on their site. All of the things the Instinct beat the iPhone on are differences that the new version will improve on. The Instinct is a new phone. The iPhone is a year old. Not really a fair comparison. But the Instinct should do quite well for Sprint and Samsung.

As far as the lack of Nokias. I can't remember the last time I saw a Nokia smartphone on AT&T's site. They seem to be the only carrier getting these phones. So I'm not surprised Nokia was a non-factor in this report.

[walkguru]

Wirelessly posted (Walkguru's: Opera/9.50 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/4.1.11328/308; U; en))

i wonder where the treo fits in here.

[RadioFoneGuy]

And to imagine if RIM woundnt have won that law suit a couple years ago they would have been done.

RIM was smart they started out with Corporate MS Outlook support thru a secure server. At my company there was a internal document that says do not use Iphone for email because of the previous lack of security.

With Iphones latest update it takes advantage of MS Outlook so that will help.

About Nokia the were my favorite phones for reliable and call quality but I have been disappointed in their lack of Smart phones. I have a Nokia 6682 which is sort of a Berry Knock off and is a great phone with tons of 3rd party apps due to the openness of Symbian.

I still cant belive you cant do MMS on an IPHONE.

[RJB]

Originally Posted by walkguru

Wirelessly posted (Walkguru's: Opera/9.50 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/4.1.11328/308; U; en))

i wonder where the treo fits in here.

Third..................

[zamboni77]

Treos are done IMHO.
Non-touch screen devices will soon be taking over the touch screen ppc devices.
Treos are unstable. Had one, and constantly had to restore from backups.

BB's are still in the lead, but their sales aren't what they used to be, no?

[SteveW]

Originally Posted by zamboni77

Treos are done IMHO.
...
Treos are unstable. Had one, and constantly had to restore from backups.

Not to defend or knock Palm, but regular readers will be aware that Treos have shipped with two different operating systems for a while (Palm OS 5.x and Windows Mobile). A report of instability would be more useful if at least the OS were specified and whether built-in or add-on applications seemed to be the issue.


SW

[walkguru]

Wirelessly posted (Walkguru's: Opera/9.50 (J2ME/MIDP; Opera Mini/4.1.11328/514; U; en))

my sprint centro is a nice phone. better than a bb for my use. just my opinion of course.

[Gamer03]

Originally Posted by SteveW

Not to defend or knock Palm, but regular readers will be aware that Treos have shipped with two different operating systems for a while (Palm OS 5.x and Windows Mobile). A report of instability would be more useful if at least the OS were specified and whether built-in or add-on applications seemed to be the issue.


SW

Agreed. I have had both a Treo WM and two Treo's with Palm OS. Of the three that I have owned, my current Palm Treo 755p is the best. I have found that Palm OS is definitely more stable than Palm WM (at least when comparing Treo's with Sprint and Verizon).

[Charlyee]

Originally Posted by SteveW

Not to defend or knock Palm, but regular readers will be aware that Treos have shipped with two different operating systems for a while (Palm OS 5.x and Windows Mobile). A report of instability would be more useful if at least the OS were specified and whether built-in or add-on applications seemed to be the issue.


SW

Good point Steve.

Although I have a WM 6.0 Palm, as you can see from my custom title and the dozen or more times I have said "Luv my Treo", I do really love it. I have had my Treo longer than any primary GSM or CDMA device which also speaks highly for it.

In my opinion any problems that I have had with it stem from add-on application. As you know there are many WM & Palm application out there and not all of them are stable or work right.

Like you, I am a Palm OS person myself, having started with the original Palm Pilot, succeded by the Palm IIIxe and the Palm Vx, before getting sidetracked by the WM IPAQ series. I was looking forward to getting back to Palm OS. Although that did not happen there are many "Palm things" in my Treo that other WM devices do not have. Here is a post on it that maybe of interest:

http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/mi...tml#post492938 (Treo 750 Review)


I for one, am really looking forward to the Treo 850. .

[SteveW]

Originally Posted by Charlyee

"Luv my Treo"...In my opinion any problems that I have had with it stem from add-on application. As you know there are many WM & Palm application out there and not all of them are stable or work right.

That's true, although both OSs could handle application issues more gracefully. I'm not a WM expert, but it has a reputation for being a big memory hog that doesn't always release unused memory. Palm OS 5.x, OTOH, has a reputation for getting ever more fragile as new features (particularly multimedia) have been added. The prevailing opinion in the programmer community is that Palm OS badly needs a complete rewrite in order to return to its lean and elegant roots. I'm sure this rewrite will come along any decade now.

Originally Posted by Charlyee

Like you, I am a Palm OS person myself, having started with the original Palm Pilot,

Didn't have that.

Originally Posted by Charlyee

succeded by the Palm IIIxe and the Palm Vx,

Had both of those. Actually, I still have the Vx, fully charged, in its dock. I just never use it.

Originally Posted by Charlyee

before getting sidetracked by the WM IPAQ series.

I for one, am really looking forward to the Treo 850. .

I'd wait for the issues to be fixed in the 855.


SW