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There isn’t a day that passes where I don’t read an article about the iPhone and the BlackBerry going head to head. It’s like they’re pitted to fight to the death. The worst part, to me, is that so many people assume that just because the iPhone is hip and has a touchscreen, it will beat out the BlackBerry and its “bland” mechanical keyboard, and a screen that is only good for smudges. Well, Apple fanboys won’t like this one: BlackBerry increased their market share last quarter.

During the holiday rush, BlackBerry comprised 35.1 percent of the market. During the first quarter of 2008, they took 44.5 percent of the market. Apple took home 26.7 percent of smartphone sales during the fourth quarter of 2007, and dropped to 19.2 percent last quarter.

Obviously, Apple did better at a more lucrative time of year. The 26.7 percent they took during the holidays was immensely valuable, so I’m sure they’re not complaining about a drop-off during the retail lull that typically follows the holiday season. Plus, the 3G iPhone rumors started really heating up during Q1, which I’m sure led people to hold off on iPhone purchases.

I’ll be interested to see what the second quarter looks like. There’s a possibility that the 3G iPhone will be released during the final days of June, which could boost Apple’s market share. RIM, though, has two more devices heavily rumored to be released this year, plus the BlackBerry Bold, which could be out late second or early third quarter. Plus, they released the CDMA Curve during this quarter.

What will be more interesting is to see how the holiday season will unfold, with a new iPhone and a slew of new BlackBerry devices.

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