Apple's iPhone was the top-selling handset in the United States in the third quarter, according to new data from NPD Group. The long reign of Motorola's Razr handset three straight years is over and has slipped to the No. 2 position.
RIM's BlackBerry Curve garnered the No. 3 spot, followed by LG’s Rumor and Env2.
Four of the five best-selling handsets in the third quarter were optimized for messaging and other advanced Internet features.
When it comes to the specific features that motivated U.S. consumers to purchase their handsets, 43 percent of handset buyers cited the need for a camera and 36 percent noted the ability to send and receive text messages. Mobile phones with a QWERTY keyboard experienced the greatest year-over-year rise in sales; 30 percent of handsets were sold with this feature in Q3 2008, versus just 11 percent the year prior. Also this quarter 83 percent of phones purchased were Bluetooth enabled (versus 72 percent last year), and 68 percent of phones purchased in Q3 were music enabled (versus 49 percent last year).
In the smartphone category, however, RIM continued to be the top U.S. market share holder with 40% in October. Carrier subsidies appeared to be helping as more than half of the BlackBerrys on the market were subsidized to $100 or less.
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