Two-thirds of users considering switch from BlackBerry to iPhone

Nearly two-thirds of BlackBerry customers are considering switching to an iPhone because of the recent widespread outages affecting the popular business smartphones, according to new research from shopping comparison website Kelkoo.

The firm interviewed more than 1,000 BlackBerry customers and found that 19 per cent are thinking about moving to another manufacturer, while 42 per cent will think about changing when they next change their handset. Some 62 per cent said they'd opt for an iPhone above all other brands as a replacement.

The findings signal more bad news for Canadian smartphone maker Research In Motion (RIM), which has been criticised for its sluggish response to the outage and a lack of communication with its customers.

RIM founder Mike Lazaridis belatedly took to the web on Thursday to apologise for the outage, which affected customers in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Americas.

The findings of the Kelkoo research tally with rival comparison site PriceRunner.co.uk, which found that 63 per cent of BlackBerry users would consider switching phones as a result of the outage.

Those considering a switch to the iPhone may have cause to rethink their options, however, after numerous reports surfaced indicating problems with the upgrade to iOS 5.

V3 editor Madeline Bennett found the update wiped all of the data on her device, including hundreds of photos, messages and videos.