Blackberry sales 'disappearing'

Sales of BlackBerry handsets to consumers have all but fizzled out in the US, China, Spain and Japan, with the UK remaining its best-selling area, according to new data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech.

The latest data for smartphone sales for the three months to the end of October 2013 shows that the company's share of sales in the US fell to just 0.8%, even as that market has grown in size as more and more smartphones become available.

In China, Spain and Japan, its share fell to less than a tenth of a percent - so that Kantar records it as zero.

The collapse in BlackBerry sales points to the problems that have arisen since the company's much-publicised efforts first to sell itself to a private equity group, and then to raise $1bn at the same time as it fired its chief executive Thorsten Heins, who had only been in place since January 2012 after he was promoted to replace the company's founders.

The company itself has said that it will be focussing on corporate sales - and the fall in consumer support seems to suggest that it will have to. Its largest sales share - 3.3% - was recorded in the UK, though that is a relative sales figure, and also does not indicate how many people are already using its handsets.

More significantly, BlackBerry was outsold by Windows Phone handsets in every market reported by Kantar, despite having launched its Z30 handset in September to add to its portfolio.


/The Guardian/