BlackBerry Curve eclipses the iPhone in U.S. sales

by Stevie Smith - May 5 2009, 15:00

The iconic iPhone may well be the trendy young pretender to the smartphone throne, but U.S. sales for the first quarter of 2009 show that Apple’s diminutive touch-screen wonder has recently fallen short when compared to the BlackBerry Curve. 

More pointedly, new market research released by the NPD Group sandwiches the iPhone amid a gamut of rival BlackBerry handsets from the smartphone portfolio of Ontario-based Research In Motion (RIM).

With the hugely desirable Curve heading first-quarter sales and the iPhone following close behind, solid sales of the BlackBerry Storm see it secure third spot (despite largely negative critical appraisal), while the BlackBerry Pearl further squeezes the iPhone by landing in fourth.

Interestingly, T-Mobile’s Android-equipped G1 phone (a.k.a. the HTC Dream) rounded out the top-five sellers.

According to NPD, the Curve’s current momentum could be short-lived and the iPhone’s dominance in Q3 and Q4 of 2008 could soon return. Specifically, the research house has offered that the BlackBerry Curve’s upturn is connected to a “buy-one-get-one” promotion run by operator Verizon Wireless and also U.S. availability across four carriers.

As a result of its surging popularity throughout the year’s opening quarter, Research In Motion has seen its smartphone market share rocketing from 35 percent to an even more dominant 50 percent. Meanwhile, Apple’s smartphone – presently locked to AT&T availability – experienced a full 10 percent share drop.

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