Curve blows past iPhone, others, in September sales

A list that ranks the 10 most popular handsets in the United States for September has been released recently. The list, compiled by Avian Research, is based on the firm's Monthly Retail Store Survey that polls 100 service reps at retail stores of the four major wireless providers, reveals some unsurprising trends, including the domination of Research In Motion products. The BlackBerry Curve is far and away the most popular handset, holding down the top spot since May. Back in April, the BlackBerry Pearl was at number one.

The research firm did note the Curve's current 16.9 percetn lead over next-best, the Apple iPhone 3G, was helped by a promotion at Sprint Nextel stores that priced the smartphone at $100. Apple's iPod sales, meantime, while still strong enough to earn it a second spot, have leveled off, Avian notes. While the Curve appeared to beat the iPhone soundly in the September survey, NPD statistics for the past quarter suggest Apple will have outperformed the BlackBerry and all other smartphones in the US during the summer.

Apart from these particulars, it is interesting to note that five of the 10 devices are smartphones and four of them are equipped with a touchscreen; both good indications at the undoubted popularity of the T-Mobile G1 when it makes its full-on debut next week.

RIM Blackberry Curve 26.1%
Apple iPhone 9.2%
LG Dare 7.9%
RIM Blackberry Pearl 6.6%
LG Voyager 6.5%
Samsung Instinct 5.8%
LG Rumor 5%
LG Shine 3.5%
Palm Centro 2.9%
Nokia 5310 2.5%

[viaRCR Wireless]