iPhone Beats BlackBerry in Q3 Sales; RIM to Bite Back with App Store

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iPhone Beats BlackBerry in Q3 Sales; RIM to Bite Back with App Store

6:00 am on October 22, 2008 | Category: Business, Mobile Devices, Cell Phones

Apple’s popular iPhone device outsold Research In Motion’s seemingly unstoppable BlackBerry brand for the first time ever in the third quarter, as the long-awaited iPhone 3G hit the market on July 11.

Apple sold nearly 6.9 million iPhones in the three month period ending September 27, the company said in an earnings call yesterday afternoon. That compares to 6.1 million smartphones sold by the BlackBerry franchise.

“I’d like to point out [a] remarkable milestone resulting from iPhone’s outstanding performance last quarter,” said Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, making a surprise appearance in yesterday’s earnings call. “Apple beat RIM.”

In total, Cupertino, California-based Apple has sold 13 million iPhones this year, far outstripping the company’s own goal of 10 million sales, even before the Christmas shopping season begins.

But Research In Motion is fighting back with the BlackBerry Storm, its first ever touchscreen smartphone, which is due to hit the North American market within the next few weeks. Furthermore, the Waterloo, Ontario-based BlackBerry maker is planning to launch its own applications store, similar to Apple’s, allowing users to download software designed by third-party developers directly onto their devices.

“The new BlackBerry application storefront and BlackBerry application centers will further support the growing BlackBerry ecosystem and help bridge consumers with developers and carriers as more and more innovative and interesting applications arrive,” commented RIM CEO, Mike Lazaridis.