Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY) Regains Canadian Market Share [REPORT]

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Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) regained some of its lost market share in Canada, its home territory, after launching its new BlackBerry devices, particularly the BlackBerry Z10, according to a research firm.

Research In Motion Ltd (BBRY) Regains Canadian Market Share [REPORT]

Last year, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) captured a significant slice of the smartphone market share in Canada after selling 2.85 million iPhone units in the country compared with the 2.08 BlackBerry units sold by the Canadian smartphone manufacturer.

According to Tavis McCourt, analyst at Raymond James research firm, Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) managed to prevent the deterioration of its market share in its home territory with the introduction of its new BlackBerry 10 operating system and new smartphone models.

During the fourth quarter of 2012, Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) had only a 6 percent share in the Canadian smartphone market. The company managed to increase its share to 13.5 percent in the first quarter this year. The BlackBerry Z10 is the main driver behind the improvement.

The BlackBerry Z10 has a strong launch in Canada. The device maintained its strong momentum, which is helping the company to continue to regain its market share in Canada.  According to the company, the BlackBerry Z10 launch was 50 percent better than any of the other devices in the history of Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB)’s product launching.

McCourt believe that the BlackBerry Q10 will help the Canadian smartphone manufacturer boost its ability to reclaim its position in its home country even further.

In a note to investors, McCourt wrote, “I think the Q10 will see much better demand than the Z10, as I have to believe the primary reason users are still on BlackBerry is for the physical keyboard. That being said, a lot of that demand may get stretched out over a few quarters, as it will take time for enterprises to adopt BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10, which is needed to support the Q10.”

At present, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) still holds a 40.1 percent market share in Canada in the first quarter of 2013 after declining from 44 percent in the previous quarter. BlackBerry Managing Director Andrew MacLeod previously stated that Canada is a very important and strategic market for the company.

He also expressed his confidence that Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is very strong in Canada. “We are very strong here, and I think we have a very unique relationship here with Canadians, that we treat with an endless amount of respect, attention and resources,” said MacLeod.

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