iPhone 3G Leads Summer Smartphone Sales

By Amy Gilroy -- TWICE, 10/6/2008

Port Washington, N.Y. — The iPhone 3G was the best-selling smartphone from June through August, followed by the RIM BlackBerry Curve and the RIM BlackBerry Pearl, according to The NPD Group.

The Palm Centro ranked fourth for the period, during which the iPhone rose in share to 17 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, up from 11 percent earlier in the year, said NPD.

Looking beyond smartphones to all cellphone sales, the iPhone 3G ranked second behind the Motorola Razr V3.

About 30 percent of U.S. consumers who purchased an iPhone 3G during the period switched to AT&T from other carriers, as AT&T is the exclusive iPhone carrier.

By comparison, the average percentage of consumers who switched carriers for the period was 23 percent.

Almost half of the iPhone 3G customers who switched to AT&T defected from Verizon Wireless, and another 24 percent switched from T-Mobile with yet another 19 percent defecting from Sprint.

Also during June through August, the average selling price for a smartphone fell to $174, down 26 percent from $236 for the year-ago period.

NPD compiles and analyzes more than 150,000 online consumer surveys each month.