The Apple iPhone has been topped in first-quarter sales in the US by rival Research in Motion device the BlackBerry Curve, according to research firm NPD.
Research in Motion produced three devices in the top five selling smartphones in the first quarter, with the BlackBerry Storm in third place, followed by the BlackBerry Pearl in fourth. The T-Mobile G1 “Google Phone” took fifth place.
NPD says a “buy-one-get-one” promotion by telco Verizon helped boost the BlackBerry Curve sales.
“The more familiar, and less expensive, Curve benefitted from these give-aways and was able to leapfrog the iPhone, due to its broader availability on the four major US national carriers,” Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at NPD, told News.com.au.
NPD also said that sales of smartphones made up 23% of handset sales in the first quarter, compared to 17% one year ago.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
