RIM's crown may have slipped around the rest of the world, but BlackBerry's base in its home country has, until now, held strong.

Numbers published by Bloomberg, however, suggest iPhone shipments surpassed that of BlackBerry in Canada for the first time during 2011, with Apple shipping 2.85 million units to RIM's 2.08 million.

Turning the tables

To put those figures in some context, in 2008, BlackBerry handsets outsold Apple's iPhone by almost five to one in Canada.

Despite iPhone's increasing rise to prominence in the years since, BlackBerry still managed to hold on in 2010, outselling Apple's device by around half a million units.

Indeed, the IDC numbers suggest this is the first time iPhone has toppled BlackBerry in Canada since Apple launched the device back in 2007.

Sign of the times

Analysts have been quick to brand the news as significant, despite the fact Canada makes up just around 7 percent of RIM's revenue. 

It's claimed fact the firm has been topped in its home market – a territory where it was seemingly untouchable until this point – is yet further evidence that the smartphone industry is slipping away

"For RIM, in its home market, to lose that No. 1 position to iPhone is strategically important," said Paul Taylor of BMO Harris Private Banking.

"It does identify, even with a home-country bias, how consumers are responding to the greater functionality of the iPhone."

Attention will now turn to the launch of RIM's BlackBerry 10 handsets towards the end of 2012, with the OS based on that currently shipping in the firm's debut tablet, PlayBook.

[source: Bloomberg]