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Home / Cell phones / Business smartphones
BlackBerry Growth Stalls, Slashes BlackBerry PricesBy Sindre Lia, 19 June 2009
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RIM BlackBerry Tour
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RIM BlackBerry Tour
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RIM BlackBerry Tour
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RIM BlackBerry Tour
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RIM BlackBerry Tour
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RIM BlackBerry Tour
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RIM BlackBerry Tour
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Research In Motion has seen tremendous growth, but Exchange for $1 per month on other smartphone platforms could make people think twice in the future.

With the new BlackBerry Storm 2 and BlackBerry Tour for Verizon Wireless in the pipeline, there's still a potential for growth in the U.S. market for Research In Motion. Today, Verizon Wireless also released its own version of T-Mobile's Pearl Flip.

However, the company's financial report for Q1 2009 reveals that there's been a slight dip in subscriber growth lately. 3.8 million net new BlackBerry subscriber accounts were added in the quarter, which gives a total of approximately 28.5 million. In Q4 2008, RIM added 3.9 million net new accounts.

There have been no new BlackBerry phones on Verizon Wireless in the period, while the other carriers' BlackBerry phones might not be as hot as they used to be. On the other hand, BlackBerry is currently getting more attention around the world than earlier. All in all, we doubt RIM is worried about the short-term outlook.

However, during RIM's period of massive growth, the BlackBerry phones have been the obvious choice for messaging users, but especially since reliable Exchange and push solutions are now offered on platforms such as Windows Mobile and Symbian S60, it seems like RIM will face some fierce competition moving forward. There's now also Palm's WebOS and Google's Android OS lurking in the dark, two platforms that are on their way to becoming prosumer/corporate- and carrier-friendly.

We've noticed that the prices on BlackBerry phones have been slashed lately (likely as a response to the competition), but it's clear to us that the company needs to take a look at its service charges as well. Direct Exchange support used to be unstable at best, but that's no longer the case, with many providers now offering a great service for $1 per month.
Best Smartphones
Name Score Price Carrier
C
Nokia N95 8GB NAM 83% $450Unlocked
Apple iPhone 3GS 83% $200AT&T
Sprint Hero 81% $100Sprint
Motorola Droid 81% $200Verizon Wireless
HTC Droid Eris 81% $100Verizon Wireless
HTC HD2 79% $800Unlocked
Samsung Moment 78% $100Sprint
Apple iPhone 3G 77% $100AT&T
RIM BlackBerry Tour 77% $200Verizon Wireless
HTC Touch Pro2 77% $350T-Mobile
Sprint Tour 77% $200Sprint
HTC Imagio 77% $200Verizon Wireless
HTC Tilt 2 77% $300AT&T
RIM BlackBerry Storm 2 77% $180Verizon Wireless
RIM BlackBerry Bold 9700 77% $200AT&T, T-Mobile
Nokia E75 76% $380Unlocked
Nokia E71x 76% $100AT&T Wireless
Sprint Touch Pro2 76% $350Sprint
Verizon Wireless Touch Pro2 76% $200Verizon Wireless
Motorola Cliq 76% $200T-Mobile
Samsung Intrepid 76% $150Sprint
Nokia N97 75% $650Unlocked
RIM BlackBerry Curve 8900 (T-Mobile) 75% $200T-Mobile
RIM BlackBerry Curve 8330 (Sprint) 74% $200Sprint
T-Mobile G1 74% $180T-Mobile
Click here to see full and advanced chart »
 
 
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