BlackBerry continues to lose market share in the United States, down more than three per cent, from 19.7 per cent to 16.6 per cent in the three months to the end of November as users defect to Android or iPhone.
Android now has a 46.9% market share, up 3% during the period, and the iPhone now has a 28.7 per cent share in the US, up from 27.3 per cent three months earlier.
The company needs a dramatic turnaround in fortune if it is to avoid being taken over with many of the leading players in the smartphone market already being linked with possible takeover moves. Even Amazon have apparently expressed an interest as they are widely expected to join the smartphone market in the not too distant future.
RIM executives, however, continue to reject suggestions of a sale, despite a 75 per cent collapse in the firm’s share price in 2011.
One other possibility being talked about is that RIM could licence the BlackBerry software to other smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung.