RIM loses their home country to Apple in terms of smartphone sales
Although the BlackBerry PlayBook may be making a comeback, it seems that RIM may be wise to get their BBM app on other platforms. Canada, RIM's home country, has always been fairly loyal to their local brand, but in 2011, Apple sold more iPhones than RIM sold BlackBerrys for the first time ever.
With the iPhone's huge mindshare presence, this may not come as a big surprise, but the move does show that even Canadian corporations are beginning to feel the major draw of the iPhone's superior content and technology. Also, the Canadian market has always been a big part of RIM's sales, so a drop here really effects their bottom line.
Even without BlackBerrys, RIM can still put some hope in the PlayBook and "PlayBook 2's" success. It's also not as if BlackBerrys don't sell at all, but the previously dominant company's sales are certainly slipping. RIM will really have to impress BlackBerry 10 OS at BlackBerry World in a few months if they want to keep the brand alive, because if current trends continue then it looks like the BlackBerry smartphone may soon die out.
[Bloomberg]
