RIM's BlackBerry Curve Outsells iPhone in U.S. in Q1

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 4, 2009 - 9:08am.

Port Washington, N.Y. - RIM's (NASD: RIMM) BlackBerry Curve outsold Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iPhone to claim the top spot in smartphone sales in the U.S. during the first quarter, according to market research firm NPD Group.

In addition to first place, RIM's Storm and Pearl smartphones took the third and fourth spots, respectively, while T-Mobile's G1 came in fifth.

"Verizon Wireless' aggressive marketing of the BlackBerry Storm and its buy-one-get-one BlackBerry promotion to its large customer base contributed to RIM capturing three of the top five positions," said NPD director on industry analysis Ross Rubin.

"The more familiar, and less expensive, Curve benefited from these giveaways and was able to leapfrog the iPhone, due to its broader availability on the four major U.S. national carriers."

The overall smartphone market now accounts for 23% of all U.S. handset sales, up from 17% in the first quarter a year ago.

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