RIM BlackBerry in Top 5 Due to BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Bold and Prepaid, Says IDC

BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion moved into the top 5 vendor rankings for the first time. RIM, which replaced Motorola in the top 5, tied Sony Ericsson for the number 4 position in IDC's 1Q10 vendor rankings.in their latest report, IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker

RIM shipped 10.6 million units in the first quarter while Motorola, which had been a top 5 vendor since the inception of the repeort 2004, shipped 8.5 million units. Motorola, the number 2 overall vendor in 2004, registered a fifth place finish last years steadily lost share since 2004..

Key to RIM success in the first quarter was the popularity of its BlackBerry Curve 8520 and BlackBerry Bold 9700 across multiple markets as well as its global prepaid offerings. Strong consumer adoption, particularly among text-crazy teens, has also fuelled demand for BlackBerry devices.

"That the mobile phone market has rebounded by double digits year over year in a post-holiday quarter is definitely good news for the industry," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team.

IDC believes the worldwide mobile phone market rebound will continue in 2010, though not at the same growth rate as the first quarter.

Top Five
Mobile Phone Vendors, Shipments, and Market Share, Q1 2010 (Units in
Millions)

Vendor

1Q10 Unit Shipments

1Q10 Market Share

1Q09 Unit Shipments

1Q09 Market Share

Year-over-year Change

1. Nokia

107.8

36.6%

93.2

38.4%

15.7%

2. Samsung

64.3

21.8%

45.9

18.9%

40.1%

3. LG Electronics

27.1

9.2%

22.6

9.3%

19.9%

4. Research In Motion

10.6

3.6%

7.3

3.0%

45.2%

4. Sony Ericsson

10.5

3.6%

14.5

6.0%

-27.6%

Others

74.6

25.3%

58.9

24.3%

26.7%

Total

294.9

100.0%

242.4

100.0%

21.7%

Source:
IDC Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, April 29, 2010

Note: Vendor
shipments are branded shipments and exclude OEM sales for all vendors.