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May 11, 2010

Fresh new numbers released by the NPD Group indicate that the sale of smartphones powered by Research In Motion's Blackberry operating system actually outsold Apple’s iPhone OS during the first quarter of 2010, placing it right behind the Blackberry in total sales.

Additionally, the market research firm added that the strong sale of Android-powered smartphones at Verizon Wireless also helped fuel the nation’s largest mobile service carrier to within a hair of AT&T’s iPhone sales for the same quarter.

Overall, AT&T Mobility continued to lead in market share at around 33.2 percent of sales, but Verizon Wireless actually came in a close second at about 30.3 percent, followed by T-Mobile USA at almost 17.4 percent and Sprint Nextel at almost 15.1 percent.

The numbers from NPD reveal that RIM continues to lead smartphone operating system sales during the first quarter accounting for about 36.2 percent of the overall OS market.

Google's Android OS moved into the No. 2 slot at 28 percent, while Apple’s iPhone was No. 3 with about 21 percent.

This, despite NPD’s research not including corporate or enterprise sales that have traditionally favored RIM’s OS. Verizon Wireless is heaviest with those powered by Microsoft’s Windows Mobile OS counting 7 different models including its two new Kin models.

Next for the wireless carrier is Blackberry with a half-dozen distinct devices, followed by four Android devices and a pair of Palm’s devices running its WebOS.

In total the carrier has 19 distinct smartphones currently for sale. Smartphone sales are becoming increasingly important to wireless carriers as most require customers to sign up for data packages that range up to $30 per month in addition to regular voice and messaging packages.

Almost all of the nation’s top wireless operators have a broad range of smartphones slated to launch in the coming weeks with those powered by Google's Android the most numerous.

“Previously, wireless carrier distribution and promotions have played a vital role in determining smartphone market share,” said Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis for NPD.

“In order to seriously compete with Apple's iPhone, Verizon has expanded its buy-one-get-one offer beyond RIM devices to now include all of their smartphones,” added Rubin.

For AT&T, RIM is in charge with 6 distinct models, followed by 5 running a variation of Windows, two running Nokia’s Symbian OS and two iPhone models, the 3G and the 3GS.

AT&T also offers a single device running Linux in Garmin’s Nuvifone and at this point only a single Android model in Motorola’s Backflip. AT&T Mobility offers a total of no less than seventeen distinct smartphones.

Sprint Nextel has the smallest number of distinct smartphones for sale with just ten models. Those include three powered by RIM’s Blackberry OS and 3 powered by a version of Windows Mobile, and a pair each sporting Palm’s WebOS and Android.

The NPD Group added that continued strong sales of smartphones and messaging devices pushed average selling prices of mobile phones up about 4.9 percent during the first quarter of this year when compared with the same quarter of last year to $88, though apps for smartphones actually dropped about 2.9 percent year-over-year to $151.

Overall, T-Mobile USA had eleven distinct smartphones for sale, including five powered by Android, three powered by a Windows Mobile variation, two Blackberry models and a single device powered by Symbian.

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Source: The NPD Group.