Now BlackBerry Even Loses its Home Turf of Canada to the iPhone

[Maura]

Bloomberg reports today that BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM) has finally been beaten in its own Canadian backyard by Apple. According to data compiled by IDC and Bloomberg, RIM, which is located in Waterloo, Ontario, shipped 2.08 million BlackBerrys in Canada in 2011, while Apple shipped 2.85 million iPhones. Quite a turnaround from 2010, when the BlackBerry outsold the iPhone by half a million, or 2008, when the BlackBerry outsold the iPhone by nearly five to one. Bloomberg notes that this is quite a significant blow to RIM, which, as one of Canada’s biggest consumer bands, has until now been able to count on the loyalty of Canadians who liked the fact that the BlackBerry was essentially a Canadian product.

“For RIM, in its home market, to lose that No. 1 position to iPhone is strategically important,” said Taylor, who manages about $15 billion in assets, including RIM and Apple shares. “It does identify, even with a home-country bias, how consumers are responding to the greater functionality of the iPhone,” commented Paul Taylor, a fund manager at BMO Harris Private Banking in Toronto.

Source: BlackBerry Loses Top Spot to Apple at Home: Corporate Canada - Bloomberg
Via MacRumors