Apple tops BlackBerry in Canadian sales

Research in Motion's home-country advantage has worn off amongst Canadian consumers.

For the first time, its BlackBerry is no longer the top selling smartphone in the country, according to data compiled by research firm IDC and Bloomberg.

Apple's wildly popular iPhone device took the top spot for 2011 with sales of 2.85 million devices in Canada, easily beating BlackBerry sales that totaled 2.08 million.

It marks the first time that the BlackBerry has not been the top-selling smartphone in Canada since its introduction.

The BlackBerry outsold iPhones by over half a million devices in 2010. In 2008, the first year the iPhone was on the market, BlackBerry outsold it by more than five to one.

RIM has enjoyed a position of dominance in Canada over the past decade. Many Canadian consumers remained loyal to their BlackBerry devices even as sales waned in other countries.

Canadian sales, which account for seven per cent of total BlackBerry shipments, fell 23 per cent in the latest quarter. The sales decline was even larger in the United States at 45 per cent.

Research in Motion will announce its latest profits on March 29th. Analysts expect profitswere cut by more than half during the quarter.