industries

Apple Ousts RIM from Top Spot in Canada

The Ontario-based BlackBerry manufacturer just lost the No. 1 slot in smartphone shipments on its home turf to the ubiquitous iPhone. The punches keep coming for the proudly Canadian BlackBerry maker as it loses its top spot in its home market.  

By Lindsey Peacock /

iPhone tops BlackBerry in Canada | BCBusiness
New stats indicate the Apple iPhone is now top dog among smartphones in Canada – a spot that belonged to Ontario-based Research in Motion.

The Ontario-based BlackBerry manufacturer just lost the No. 1 slot in smartphone shipments on its home turf to the ubiquitous iPhone.

The punches keep coming for the proudly Canadian BlackBerry maker as it loses its top spot in its home market.
 
Bloomberg is reporting Research in Motion has finally slipped in the rankings here in Canada. And the numbers tell a disappointing story. In 2011, RIM shipped 2.08 million BlackBerries, whereas Apple shipped 2.85 million. Just the year before, RIM beat Apple’s shipments by half a million. Overall sales plummeted 23 per cent in Q3 last year and a breathtaking 45 per cent south of the border.
 
It would seem Canadians have caught the Apple frenzy that’s claimed many other parts of the developing world as well.
 
Experts point to the numbers as a sign that the iPhone’s superior functionality is winning out with customers over any assumed loyalty to the homegrown Canadian company. But product release delays, missing features (i.e. PlayBooks without e-mail capabilities) and a lack of innovation don’t exactly help RIM’s dire situation.