RIMM Losing U.S. Market Share To Android, Piper Contends

Research In Motion (RIMM) has begun to lose some market share in the U.S. market to Android-based phones, according to Piper Jaffray analyst T. Michael Walkley.

Walkley contends the company’s BlackBerry phones lost ground in April and early May at AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile.

• At Verizon, he says, “checks indicate weakening BlackBerry sales” due to increasing competition from the HTC Incredible and Motorola Droid.” He says sales of the Storm 2 “continue to weaken.”
• At AT&T, he reports, the Apple (AAPL) iPhone remains the best selling smart phone. Sales of the Bold 9700 have softened following a price increase to $199 from $99.
• At T-Mobile, Walkley writes, the Bold 9700 is losing share to the Windows-based HTC HD2 and Android devices like the MyTouch 3G.

The analyst says international sales remain strong. However, he keeps a Neutral rating on the shares on concerns about increasing competition and the potential for declining ASPs and margins.

RIMM today is up $1.48, or 2.2%, to $69.31.