Apple iPhone loses market share

Apple has experienced a slight setback in the US smart phone market during the first quarter.

According to data compiled by IDC, Apple's still the second-leading smart phone maker in the US behind RIM, the BlackBerry maker. But it lost market share going from the fourth quarter to the first at the expense of RIM and Palm, according to the figures provided by IDC analyst Ramon Llamas.

RIM's market share went from 35.1 per cent in the fourth quarter to 44.5 per cent in the first, while Apple's dropped from 26.7 per cent in the fourth quarter to 19.2 per cent in the first. Palm's Centro lifted that company's market share to 13.4 per cent in the first quarter, up from 7.9 per cent in the fourth. Samsung and HTC ranked fourth and fifth in the US market with 8.6 per cent and 4.1 per cent of the market, respectively.

During its most recent earnings call, Apple revealed it had sold 1.7 million iPhones, which was down from the 2.3 million units it sold during the fourth-quarter Christmas shopping season. Both RIM and Palm grew their shipments on a quarter-by-quarter basis over roughly the same time period.

Both RIM and Palm have intensified their pursuit of consumer smart phone users, RIM from the high end with devices like the Curve and Pearl and Palm from the low end with the $99 Centro.

Given the iPhone shortages that have been going on for several weeks ahead of the rumoured 3G iPhone expected this month, Apple might have also lost share this quarter. But the company has consistently reiterated its intention to ship 10 million units in 2008, the first full calendar year the iPhone has been on sale. RIM sold 14 million BlackBerrys during its 2008 fiscal year, which ended on March 1.

Original article: Apple's iPhone loses U.S. market share in Q1 from CNET News.com