Apple iPhone Most Popular Smartphone in Canada as BlackBerrys Vanish: Report

Apple's iPhone still the smartphone of choice among Canadians. (Philippe Huguen/AFP/Getty Images)

TORONTO—BlackBerrys are vanishing in Canada while Google Android ownership grows steadily, but Apple’s iPhone is still the most popular smartphone in the country, suggests a new report.

About 85 percent of the adult Anglophone population now has a cellphone, while three quarters of them carry a smartphone, according to a report by the Media Technology Monitor, based on telephone surveys this spring with more than 2,000 Canadians.

The iPhone was the device of choice among 42 percent of the smartphone owners, while a variety of phones on the Android platform collectively made up 39 percent of the market.

To no one’s surprise, the MTM survey found BlackBerry’s share of the market has withered away in its home country.

In 2009, 61 percent of Canadian smartphone owners said they used a BlackBerry. Now, just 14 percent call themselves devotees of the struggling brand. BlackBerry’s market share plunged by half in the past two years, according to MTM.

While Apple initially won over most of the consumers who abandoned their BlackBerrys, the Android platform has seen more growth in recent years.

Samsung in particular has made the most gains. Its line of Galaxy phones now accounts for 61 percent of the Android devices in Canada, and 24 percent of the overall smartphone market, MTM says.

Consumers in the 18-to-34 demographic and those with an income under $75,000 were more likely to use an Android phone, while buyers over 35 with higher incomes were more likely to choose an iPhone.