The tide is turning in Canada, and the country’s RIM faithful are starting to leave behind their local grown BlackBerry in favour of the iPhone. For the first time since its release, the iPhone has passed BlackBerry sales in Canada. Information gathered from IDC and Bloomberg now shows that the love affair with BlackBerry in the Great White North is over:
RIM, based in Waterloo, Ontario, shipped 2.08 million BlackBerrys last year in Canada, compared with 2.85 million units for Apple, data compiled by IDC and Bloomberg show. In 2010, the BlackBerry topped the iPhone by half a million, and in 2008, the year after the iPhone’s debut, RIM outsold Apple by almost five to one.
Listen, I’m a Canadian, and it kind of pains me to write this post. Deep down I want RIM to do well, but man, have they ever botched their enormous lead in the smartphone market. It’s kind of hard to support a company that’s wandering around the deep woods of the north without a map or compass. It’s really hard to see a future where RIM gets back on top at this point. Newly anointed CEO, Thorsten Heins, has his work cut out for him. If he doesn’t get this sorted right quick RIM could be the next Nortel.
Via: Bloomberg
