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Research In Motion Set to Boost Consumer Market Share

August 12, 2008


Times Colonist.com
By David George-Cosh

TORONTO -- Amid a daily flurry of leaked details behind Research In Motion Ltd.'s upcoming BlackBerry lineup from the blogosphere, the Canadian tech giant received a shot in the arm Monday after a U.K.-based research firm said its U.S. mobile device market share crossed the 10 percent threshold for the first time.

According to a report by Strategy Analytics, mobile phone shipments were up 5.3 percent to 41.9 million units with RIM accounting for 10.3 percent of all U.S. cellphone sales in the past quarter, more than doubling their market share from the year-earlier period. "In the North American territory, (RIM) is a very well run organization," Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston said. "They've got a strong brand, good retail presence and a nice looking product portfolio that helps to differentiate themselves from the rest of the market."

One of RIM's main challenges is positioning itself to the consumer market after it has long dominated the enterprise segment, Mawston added. RIM currently sells one-third of its BlackBerrys in the consumer space and with the release of up to five new consumer-friendly models later this year, is expected to grow that figure substantially.

"As they start to grow and come into the radar screen of Motorola and Samsung, they're going to be facing problems with volume, economies of scale and pricing pressure," Mawston said. "All the usual issues that niche companies face when they grow bigger and compete with larger players."

The report comes on the heels of a survey released by ChangeWave Research that found Apple's iPhone 3G is the leading planned consumer smartphone purchase for the next 90 days, while the BlackBerry remains the leader among current smartphone owners in the corporate market.

Although the iPhone 3G has been arguably a phenomenal success, with a top-ranked analyst reporting the company sold three million devices since it launched one month ago, it has been plagued by problems with call quality, its MobileMe service and controversial new applications within its iTunes App Store.

Adding to Apple's woes is the attention a number of new BlackBerry devices have been receiving on numerous gadget blogs. Information and images are published on RIM's upcoming BlackBerry Bold, Javelin, touch screen iPhone rival and a flip phone which is aimed at the youth demographic who normally would purchase a Motorola or Nokia device.

According to ChangeWave Research, the buzz behind the new BlackBerry devices has shown considerable potential among consumers once they get into the marketplace. The survey found that about 45 percent of respondents said they were either somewhat or very likely to purchase a new BlackBerry model when it becomes available for sale.

"These results show consumers hungry for all varieties of BlackBerry," said Tobin Smith, founder of ChangeWave Research. "It appears like when it comes to the BlackBerry, the adage 'if you build it, they will come,' certainly holds true."

Times Colonist.com