iPhone drops to second place in US smartphone sales

RIM's Blackberry Curve is the best selling smartphone in the US

Apple's iPhone has dropped to second place in US smartphone sales for the first quarter of 2009, behind Research in Motion's Blackberry Curve.

Figures for the first quarter of the year from market analyst NPD Group reveal that RIM's Curve models have benefited from a 'buy one get one free' offer from Verizon and taken the number one spot.

"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 Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at NPD Group.

"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 US national carriers."

RIM has increased its market share in the smartphone market to nearly 50 per cent over the past quarter, while Apple and Palm have each lost 10 per cent.

Smartphones now make up nearly a quarter of handsets sold in the US, NPD reports, up from 17 per cent this time last year.

"Even in this challenging economy, consumers are migrating toward web-capable handsets and their supporting data plans to access more information and entertainment on the go," said Rubin.

RIM had three of the top selling smartphones, with Apple in second place and T-Mobile's G1 in fifth.