BlackBerry device market share may be declining notes Piper Jaffray analyst T. Michael Walkley.
Walkley's retail check showed erosion in the
BlackBerry realm because carriers are pushing new devices from Palm and Apple. Sprint
BlackBerry sales declined slightly due to solid sales of the
Palm Pre. AT&T
BlackBerry numbers took a hit due to the new lower price point of $99 for the i
Phone 3G. The Verizon by-one-get-one free
BlackBerry deal ended at Verizon while a new LG promotion launched.
He expects competition to grow with the new Android competition from T-Mobile, while interest will not wain for the
Palm Pre or
iPhone. Then there are even more smartphone models coming out from LG, Nokia, Motorola and Samsung.
Walkley does, however, think that the
BlackBerry Tour will do well, ""we expect the Tour will sell very well to Verizon's installed
BlackBerry subscriber base, as this is Verizon's first product that is
competitive with the Bold at AT&T. Sales of the Tour are key in our
opinion, as our checks indicated RIM may need strong July and August
sales to meet its guidance."
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