Commentary

WES 2009: BlackBerry Curve Outsells The iPhone In Q1

Woe is Apple. During the first quarter of 2009, RIM's Curve 8300 series devices out-sold the iPhone. Analysts suggest Verizon Wireless's BOGO offer played a role.

Woe is Apple. During the first quarter of 2009, RIM's Curve 8300 series devices out-sold the iPhone. Analysts suggest Verizon Wireless's BOGO offer played a role.Here are the smartphone sales rankings for the first quarter of 2009:

  1. RIM BlackBerry Curve (all 83XX models)
  2. Apple iPhone 3G (all models)
  3. RIM BlackBerry Storm
  4. RIM BlackBerry Pearl (all models, except the Flip)
  5. T-Mobile G1
RIM comes out standing tall in the top five, with three of the top slots. Not a single Windows Mobile device to be seen in this list. Perhaps Microsoft should be more worried than Apple.

One reason many believe RIM sold so many Curves is because Verizon Wireless had a buy-one-get-one-free (BOGO) offer than ran for several weeks during the quarter. Not a bad deal if you were in the market for two 'Berries at once.


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What's surprising is that the Curve is one of the older BlackBerry models that is for sale. Since they are often discounted this late in their life-cycle, it's not an unreasonable assumption to make that the Curves sold during the first quarter weren't price at the $200 and $300 levels of the iPhones.

Either way, RIM gets to crow about it. By the by, the NPD study that ferreted this all out also noted that 23% of all phones sold during the first quarter were smartphones.


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