Hey RIM, Modonna or Apple?

RIM posted great numbers and guidance in their quarterly earnings conference call last night. Seems corporate America can't get enough of the device. But it's not just an enterprise tool anymore, seems everyone has one, as there are at least 14 million of the handsets out there.

But what's responsible for this breakout success? It seems to be a growing obsession, from the soccer field where I see moms that can barely lift their eyes from their Crackberries to watch their kids as they frantically attend to their email, to Madonna who, "sleeps with her BlackBerry" under her pillow, just in case she "remembers something during the night," as reported by the BBC.

I think that Apple deserves some of the credit as well. We've all hear of the halo effect that the iPod has had on Mac sales, well I believe the iPhone has had that same affect on the Blackberry. When people decide which smart phone to get, they aren't even considering the Razor, Treo or Nokia E90 anymore, it's either the iPhone or the Blackberry.

The iPhone has has made it a two phone race, and it's catching up quick. Soon it will overtake the Treo in the number three spot, and if the prediction by Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray are correct, looks like it will have the number one spot by the end of 2009.

So RIM, you owe Apple a bit of gratitude, unfortunately for you it looks like that gratitude will become envy.

-zach bass