BlackBerry Curve Ousts iPhone 3G From US Smartphone Top-Spot

The iPhone 3G's seemingly unstoppable dominance at the top of the US smartphone sales chart has come to an end, with the BlackBerry Curve 83xx-series snatching the number one position in Q1 2009.  Smartphones make up 23-percent of handset sales; Apple and Palm both saw their smartphone share decline by 10-percent each over the course of the quarter, while RIM's share increased to almost 50-percent.

In fact BlackBerry handsets occupy three spots in the top five, with the Storm holding position three and the BlackBerry Pearl (not including the clamshell model) at number four.  The T-Mobile G1 comes in at fifth place. 

Analysts at The NPD Group put the BlackBerry success down to Verizon's "aggressive marketing of the BlackBerry Storm", together with the buy-one-get-one promotion.  That, plus its low price and presence at four US national carriers, pushed the Curve ahead.