Blackberry versus iPhone in SA

Rudolph Muller

Rudolph Muller is the editor at MyBroadband and covers telecoms and broadband news. Rudolph comes from an academic background, but left the University of...

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Recently the NPD group, a market research company, released its first quarter results for smartphone sales in the US.  The results show that Blackberry has three of the top five selling smartphones, and that the Blackberry Curve has managed to unseat the iPhone as the most popular smartphone in the US

Despite its initial bugs and glitch performance the Storm has sold strongly to take third position behind the iPhone. Directly behind the Storm, in fourth position, was the Blackberry Pearl.  NPD has also shown that Blackberry’s market share rose by 15% to 50% in the first quarter, while both Apple and Palm saw their market share drop 10% each.

Although it may be argued that users are holding off the iPhone and Palm for newer models, the attractive pricing point that Blackberry inhabits has proven attractive to US consumers.

In South Africa the trend seems to be in keeping with that of the US. Although no official Blackberry sales figures were available RIM Regional Director for Sub Saharan Africa Deon Liebenberg commented that “South African market and have seen massive interest from consumers across the country. Furthermore, our network operator partners have reported unprecedented interest from their subscribers all wanting to get their hands on a BlackBerry smartphone. “

He also confirmed that the Blackberry brand is “experiencing great growth in South Africa that is in line with global trends”

Vodacom, which carries both the iPhone and Blackberry range, has seen a marked interest in both handsets.

Dot Field, Chief Communications Officer for the Vodacom Group commented that “Vodacom continues to see a great deal of interest in its smartphone offerings with both the iPhone 3G and BlackBerry remaining popular choices. Unfortunately we cannot provide statistics as Vodacom is in a closed period.  But our research shows the iPhone 3G is a popular choice with the younger and more technology savvy generation.”

She added that “The BlackBerry remains a well-liked choice with the business and corporate market, especially among business people who are looking to remain connected with work while on the move or while out of the office.”

Blackberry versus iPhone – give your views