Figures from market research firm IDC, reported by , show that the Ontario-based smartphone maker sold 2.08 million handsets in Canada in 2011, compared to 2.85 million sales of Apple's iPhone.

RIM has always done well in its home market compared to Apple - in 2008, BlackBerrys outsold the iPhone by five-to-one. In 2010, RIM was some half a million units ahead of Apple.

RIM does still have some markets where it is well ahead of Apple, though, such as the Middle East - where conservative values lead younsters to seek ways of contacting members of the opposite sex secretively such as the BlackBerry Messenger service - and Latin America.

RIM's success in the past was down to the company's relationship with mobile network operators, which in turn pushed BlackBerry handsets to their customers, as well as big businesses, who would issue the devices to employees.

However, the growing trend of BYOD (bring your own device) in the workplace has helped Apple, with many employees opting for iPhones due to the wide choice of apps on offer then using them as handsets for work as well.