RIM gains U.S. market share in Q1 08 as world awaits Apple iPhone 2.0
Monday, June 02, 2008 - 05:06 PM EDT "BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion upped its dominance in the U.S. smartphone space during the first quarter of 2008, while Apple and its iPhone lost ground, according to a new report from IDC. But the market research firm's findings must be considered in context, alongside a number of significant related factors," Al Sacco writes for CIO."IDC says RIM took 44.5 percent of the U.S. market for smartphones in the first quarter of this year; that's up almost ten percentage points from the previous quarter's 35.1 percent share, according to news reports," Sacco writes. "But while RIM gained ground, Apple fell further behind the handheld giant with just 19.2 percent of the U.S. market in Q1 2008, compared to the 26.7 percent the iPhone-maker held in the fourth quarter of last year, IDC found."
"It's worth nothing, however, that despite the gap in market share between the two, Apple is proving to be a legitimate RIM rival--and after only a year since the iPhone's debut. (Longtime RIM rivals like Palm and HTC were left in Apple's wake.) Furthermore, Apple currently offers only one smartphone, which makes up for all of its market share, while RIM offers a wide variety of different smartphone product lines and separate models with each lineup," Sacco writes.
"As for Apple's market losses in the beginning of 2008, the drop could have to do with the fact that the final quarter of 2007 included the busy holiday shopping season... And with the next-generation iPhone expected this month, it's a safe bet that Apple will see market share increases in the current and upcoming quarters. Fruits of the iPhone software development kit (SDK) are also expected over the coming months... So though BlackBerry may be in the driver's seat today, you'll likely see Apple closing the gap even further in the near future," Sacco writes.
More in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Enjoy it while it lasts, RIM.

Not to worry. There are plenty of contracts with non-ATT carriers that still have yet to expire, and from my little circle of friends, there will be about 10 new iPhone owners in September. The iPhone is just taking a breath to get ready for another run.