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BlackBerry beats iPhone to top UK smartphone

Rim claims 2010 lead

Research in Motion (Rim) has insisted its BlackBerry is the most popular smartphone in Britain.

The company based its claim on stats from market watcher GfK which, it said, show that more BlackBerrys were bought in December 2010 than any other brand, giving it 36 per cent of the UK smartphone market and 14.9 per cent of the overall phone market.

Unlike many other research companies, GfK tracks over-the-counter sales rather than shipments from vendors.

GfK's numbers show that BlackBerry took 51.1 per cent of the pay-as-you-go market, Rim said, though only 23.3 per cent of the combined sim-free and contract segment.

GfK doesn't share its numbers with mere journalists, preferring to sell its stats to paying punters like Rim. So we can't say how closely Android or Apple's iPhone 4 followed on BlackBerry's heels, though we suspect they aren't far off.

Had the gap been a large one, Rim would surely have released GfK's iOS and Android sales data too. ®

Try my country

BB outsells iToys by a landslide. In fact, it is more likely to find someone touting an LG or Samsung touchscreen feature phone than an iPhone. Part of it may be that an entry-level BB, the 8520, sells at the low price point of 3000 MXN (£154.16) vs the 10,000 MXN (£513.87) iPhone4.

I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case in other countries as well. Oh, and businesses seem to prefer BB for some reason...

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BB vs iToy

RIM's main market has always been enterprise. That's why they don't do "as much" as your typical iSomething or Droidslab: The typical BB owner is more interested in spreadsheets, CRM integration, email and remote-wipe than flinging birds at pigs or making fart noises.

That said, I have to say the old Blackberry does seem rather popular on the morning bus journeys. Somewhat moreso than the iSomethings, even. Not sure about the Android-on-the-bus figures, as you can't really tell without having a good close-up gander at it or happening upon a familiar-looking home screen. I think most people would take offense at you peering over their shoulder while they tippety-tap their latest inanities into Twitter. I do get a fair few heads turning when they see this Froyo-flavoured seven inch thing being fondled in my lap though. And several questions along the lines of "is that an iPad?"

Teehee.

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BB 9700

Been there, done that. My BB 9000 got nicked, so I took the chance to upgrade to the BB 9700. Most of the ugliest issues with the Bold were solved, and yes including the ones making you pull the battery every now and then. Mostly the problem seemed to lie with the measly 128Mb of shared memory, which was increased to 256Mb. The entry-level 8520's are also equipped with these specs, so they are kinda stable as well.

Why oh why did RIM take so long to produce decently-specced handsets?

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@Bugs R Us

You need to take a look at the Blackberry Torch 9800.

Touch screen, pinch zoom: Y

Angry Birds: Y

Maps: Y & Y (Blackberry Maps, and Google Maps).

Facebook: Y

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Anonymous Coward

Teenagers

You forget the millions of teenagers buying the cheaper BBs for BBM use.

Also, these GfK figures are "over-the-counter" figures, so they might not include BBs handed directly to businesses.

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