The BlackBerry Curve beat out the Apple iPhone in retail
smartphone sales in the month of January, according to a report from Avian Research.
According to the list, published by BlackBerry community Web site BlackBerry Cool, Research In Motion (RIM) produced three of the top 10 devices sold through American retailers last month: the BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Storm and BlackBerry Bold.
Avian Research's top 10 list follows a survey of 100 retail managers and sales representatives from AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint and T-Mobile retail stores. The results do not include online, second-hand, mail-order or other sales channels.
The BlackBerry Curve stands a good chance at holding the top spot for February as well, as RIM released the long-awaited BlackBerry Curve 8900 model earlier this month. Avian Research's retail sales report for January does not take into account the BlackBerry Curve 8900.
The top 10 devices for January were:
1. BlackBerry Curve
2. Apple iPhone
3. BlackBerry Storm
4. LG Voyager
5. LG Dare
6. BlackBerry Bold
7. Samsung Rant
8. Samsung Behold
9. Samsung Instinct
10. LG Env2
The BlackBerry Storm capturing the No. 3 position illustrates that RIM's first-ever touch-screen device is starting to catch on after a slow start. Since its release in November, industry watchers questioned whether the smartphone could take a dent out of Apple iPhone sales as the two touch-screen titans battle it out. Apple managed to sell 2.4 million iPhone 3G smartphones in its first quarter, while Verizon said the Storm sold 1 million units in its first couple of months. While it could not edge out the iPhone for the No. 2 spot, it appears the Storm is gathering steam.
Avian Research's report comes on the heels of an IDC report that shows RIM is taking smartphone market share back from Apple. In the U.S., RIM's smartphone market share rose from 40.4 percent in the third quarter to 47.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, while Apple smartphone market share dropped to 22.3 percent in the fourth quarter compared with 30.1 percent in the third. IDC indicated that Apple iPhone sales dropped in the fourth quarter to 4.36 million devices, while RIM, which has yet to announce sales figures, predicts that it would ship between 7.5 million and 8 million devices in the fourth quarter.
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