BlackBerry maker Research in Motion has lost its lead in U.S. smartphone sales for the first time since late 2007, reports the NPD Group research firm. Who or what's to blame? None other than Google's
Android mobile operating system. Android accounted for 33% of smartphone sales in the second quarter of the year, while RIM dropped to second place with 28%, according to NPD. Apple, meanwhile,
remained in third place with 22%.
VentureBeat recently
reported on data from the Nielsen Company which put Android in second place for the second quarter -- "but even there, Google's platform was [a] mere 5 percentage points behind RIM. The next Nielsen
report will likely show Android overtaking Google in the third quarter." According to NPD, the most popular Android phones this quarter were the Motorola Droid, HTC Droid Incredible, and the HTC Evo
4G. VentureBeat attributes the Droid's continued lead -- "despite being outmatched technically by newer devices" -- to Verizon's $100 million marketing campaign. This week, Research in Motion
announced its latest flagship device, the BlackBerry Torch, and new OS 6 software.
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