BlackBerry eclipses Apple on mobile data consumption

Don’t throw in the towel on BlackBerry just yet. BlackBerry users ate up more mobile data than iPhone users last month, according to StatCounter.
Research In Motion Ltd.’s (RIMM) BlackBerry OS grabbed 34.3% of all mobile data traffic in the United States last month. Apple Inc.’s (AAPL) iOS was right behind with a 33% share. Google Inc. (GOOG) meanwhile continues its blistering pace of growth with the Android OS gaining from 8.2% a year ago to 23.8% last month. During that same period, Apple’s share has dropped from 51.9% to 33%.
“These figures suggest that developers should not be developing solely for the iPhone to the exclusion of BlackBerry and Android,” StatCounter CEO Aodhan Cullen. And as for Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT) chances, he added: “This data demonstrates that there is a battle royal already going on in the smartphone market for the consumer and business internet user. You can never underestimate Microsoft but it looks to have its work cut out.”