According to the latest reported figures here in the UK, the iPhone is slipping in terms of smartphone market share compared to the growing Blackberry base and the healthiest Android share to date. Compared with last year, phones using iOS software are down by 30% to just 18%, with Android leading on 45% and RIM’s devices rising to 22%.

Since there are many more Android devices on the market than their competitors handsets, it suggests that the wider choice offered by them is winning customers. This extended choice not only includes mobile phone models but also price and operator – Apple sells one phone, whereas there are many Android phones available, from many manufacturers. Users new to the latest breed of mobile phones are driving this change – 74% of new Android users haven’t previously owned a smartphone.

Anyone who knows anything about mobile phones will know about Blackberry. The mobiles, best known for their business features and their peerless email and messaging services, have become one of the most popular ranges of mobiles since their launch in 1999. The firm that develops the Blackberry, Research in Motion, a Canadian electronics company, is less well known but should none the less be applauded for their continuing development of impressive hardware and efficient software that has gathered an army of fans over the last decade.

RIM first developed a Blackberry device at the end of the 20th century, releasing a two way pager that was known as the 850 and first stamping their mark on the world of communications. The first smartphone to be developed by the company was the real beginning of big things for RIM though.