It"s known that BlackBerry sales are not what they once were. Research in Motion"s smartphone has lost market share to iOS and Android devices and there"s evidence that Windows Phone devices could overtake BlackBerry later this fall. Now one analysts claims that their research shows that the situation for BlackBerry sales could be even worse than first thought.
AllThingsD.com reports that, according to Pacific Crest analyst James Faucette on the current state of BlackBerry sales:
In terms of sell-through, we believe that current run rates are roughly one-fifth of those we saw in the United States just eight months ago. Further, we found a meaningful number of carrier retail locations which had not sold a single BlackBerry in over a month.
With RIM delaying the launch of BlackBerry 10 from the fourth quarter of 2012 to the first quarter of 2013, that means RIM will miss out having a new device for the busy holiday shopping season, even as new Apple, Android and Windows Phone products are all launching in the same time period. Even if BlackBerry 10 does launch in the first quarter of 2013, Faucette states, " ... we believe the clear evidence of shelf-space pressure our checks have detected does not bode well for the company in the longer term."
RIM responded to Faucette"s statement by saying, "We remain focused on the successful launch of BlackBerry 10, scheduled for the first quarter of calendar 2013, and believe the delivery of high quality, fully-featured BlackBerry 10 smartphones will be an attractive offering to our customers."
Source: AllThingsD.com
Sales chart image via Shutterstock