IPhone reality check
With the likely iPhone announcement in a few hours, there will no doubt be a storm of Apple coverage this evening. Before you start drooling or start ignoring tech websites, here鈥檚 a dose of reality: BlackBerry not only outsold the iPhone in the first quarter of 2008, but also increased its smart-phone market share by almost 10 points.
RIM鈥檚 BlackBerry, which is still the strong favorite among American executives, leapt from 35.1 percent of the US market in Q4 2007 to 44.5 percent, according to the research firm IDC.
鈥淎t the same time, the iPhone's US market share dropped to 19.2% for first quarter, down from 26.7% of the market in the fourth quarter of 2007,鈥� reports .
An IDC analyst said the Apple slide was not unexpected: 鈥渢he fourth quarter includes the holiday shopping season.鈥� (I guess an iPhone makes a better Christmas present than a BlackBerry.) And Q1 was when rumors of a second-gen iPhone grew louder, perhaps waving off some potential iShoppers.
But Apple's even lost ground against . The No. 3 smart-phone maker grabbed 13.4 percent in Q1, up from 7.9 percent in Q4.
These numbers might be irrelevant by tomorrow. iPhone鈥檚 second coming could smack down both RIM and Palm, lifting Apple鈥檚 market share out of second place. But let鈥檚 see what Mr. Jobs has to offer.
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