Strategy Analytics: iPhone no. 2 over BlackBerry

Apple's 14.1 million iPhones were enough for it to comfortably jump over the BlackBerry for market share, Strategy Analytics found today. With an estimated 77.1 million smartphones moved in the summer, the iPhone leapt to 18.3 percent of the market, pushing RIM's 12.1 million down to 16.1 percent. Nokia's 26.5 million kept it out front but also gave it one of the biggest share drops of recent memory, sagging from 37.8 percent to 34.4 percent.

Researchers blamed the BlackBerry's slump on its limited profile in touchscreen phones. Apart from the tepidly received Storm2 and the as yet untested Torch, RIM has consciously avoided touchscreens and has often claimed its hardware keyboards as selling points. The two devices use the same 3.25-inch, 480x360 touchscreen and processor from devices in 2008 and haven't lured customers away from Android phones on Verizon or the iPhone on AT&T.

Nokia wasn't explained, but its choice of the aging Symbian platform and a small app store may have both played a part.

RIM has a chance to bounce back as it expects to ship between 13.8 million and 14.4 million BlackBerry phones in its fall quarter; it has objected to Apple's comparison since the two end their fiscal quarters a month apart and don't wholly reflect RIM's actual performance. Apple, however, has noted that it's shipping every device it can even after increasing production. iPhone sales in their brief history have increased in the holidays.

By Electronista Staff

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iPhone, industry, Symbian, Nokia, BlackBerry, Research in Motion, mobile phones, Apple, Strategy Analytics