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What Were The Top 10 Smartphones For The Second Quarter?

Research firm IDC has offered its take on what the top 10 best-selling smartphones were in the U.S. during the second quarter. There's one major flaw, however, that dramatically changes the results for the top spots. Is one company being treated unfairly?

First, here's the list from number one to number 10:

1. BlackBerry Curve (8310, 8320, 8330, 8350i, and 8900)
2. Apple iPhone 3GS (16GB and 32GB)
3. BlackBerry Pearl (8110, 8120, 8130)
4. Apple iPhone 3G (8GB and 16GB)
5. BlackBerry Bold
6. BlackBerry Storm
7. HTC/T-Mobile G1
8. Palm Pre
9. HTC Touch Pro
10. HTC Touch Diamond

According to IDC's numbers, the BlackBerry Curve was the best-selling smartphone in the U.S. during the second quarter. This is a highly misleading result, however. I'll concede that the 8310, 8320, 8330 and 8350i are similar enough that they can all count as "one" model. The 8900, however, is a different phone and should not be lumped in with the other Curves. In fact, that RIM has given the 8900 the Curve name is a complete mystery.

I don't have access to the hard sales figures directly, but I have to call into question the validity of this result. Did the other four variants of the Curve together surpass iPhone 3GS sales, or was the addition of the 8900 necessary for RIM to surpass Apple and take the number one spot? Why not let the 8900 stand on its own two feet? Did it sell poorly fresh out of the gate?

And if you're going to lump models together like that, why not put the iPhone 3G and 3GS sales figures together?

According to IDC these numbers represent sell-in to carrier and retail partners, and not sell-through to end users. Also, IDC said these numbers are preliminary and not final. Still...

Beyond the toss-up for the number one and number two spots, the rest of the list is pretty interesting. HTC lands three of its smartphones on the top 10, including the G1 Android phone. Hopefully it can continue that success with the myTouch 3G.

RIM holds four of the top 10 spots. That's not so surprising. Both current versions of the iPhone are represented, too.

What's most interesting is the Pre's position at number eight. The Pre went on sale June 13, so it was only available for several weeks before the end of the second quarter. Though Palm and Sprint haven't released hard sales figures yet, I am glad to see it at least broke the top 10.

The clear winners here, however, are Apple and RIM.

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