BlackBerry is no longer favoured in the home country, as Canadians move to more user-friendly Apple's iPhone.
As per reports in
Bloomberg, Research in Motion has lost its top spot in the smartphone shipments in Canada to Apple in the recently released data by IDC and Bloomberg Show. RIM, which shipped 2.08 million units of BlackBerrys in 2011, was topped by Apple's 2.85 iPhone shipments.
One of the most popular brands to come out of Canada, BlackBerry has always enjoyed the home advantage and the 2008 numbers are a proof of it, when RIM outsold Apple by almost five to one.
RIM has been on a downward spiral in the last one year because of the rise of Android and iPhone, and its worldwide revenues are down by 5.9 percent. Company's US sales also went down by almost 45 percent in the last year.
As the sales slump is going north, RIM's new chief Thorsten Heins has promised to do something "dramatically different" and this something needs to be very big.
RIM still has some positives in its kitty as Canada's several banks and government are sticking to BlackBerrys. From Royal Bank of Canada to Bank of Nova Scotia and Bank of Montreal, all only issue BlackBerry devices to their employees. Another positive for RIM is the emerging markets, In Middle-East, Africa, and Latin America, youngsters and working professionals prefer BlackBerry devices over the much expensive 'iPhone'.