While the U.S. may be the biggest smartphone market out there, and RIM’s foothold there is slipping, BlackBerry continues to be popular in the UK and Canada according to recent survey data. In Canada, BlackBerry has snatched 41% of the smartphone market, which is more or less in line with where RIM sat at the beginning of the summer. Apple claimed 25% as of August, with the other major manufacturers claiming 27% collectively. In the UK, Android leads with 44.8%, but BlackBerry still manages to beat out iPhone 22.5% versus 18.5%. Among the Android manufacturers, HTC is leading the pack with 44.8% of the pie in the UK, followed by Samsung with 37.9%. Sony Ericsson is left in the dust at 8.5 of Android market share in the UK, down significantly from 20.5% at this time last year.
RIM has often touted its international growth, and it largely explains how the company remains profitable despite mountains of bad press across North America. Up here in Ottawa, Ontario, there are still lots of BlackBerry devices in the wild, but that’s to be expected in RIM’s motherland. Indonesia is also a big market for BlackBerry, and will be the first launch area for RIM’s next smartphone. It’s seeming like RIM is quickly being relegated to a status similar to Nokia – king of everywhere but the U.S. Of course, Nokia’s working to change that, and I’m sure RIM is too, but is it really such a terrible of a position to be in?
[via Ipsos, Kantar Worldpanel]