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(Canadian Press DataFile Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) MONTREAL _ Canadians are increasingly adopting high-tech smartphones with the BlackBerry and iPhone taking the top spots, IDC Canada says.

Research In Motion's BlackBerry (TSX:RIM) was by far the smartphone leader in the quarter ended June 30, IDC Canada said Friday.

But Apple's iPhone has created a lasting buzz.

"Apple with the iPhone has been really the one that has shaken up the market over the last year and really entered the top tier of smartphone players very quickly," said analyst Kevin Restivo.

The iPhone became available in Canada just over a year ago. Apple recently introduced a new, faster version that has a better camera and video capabilities.

"It's gaining ground on all players," he said from Toronto.

But the BlackBerry, valued for its secure messaging and with many of the same features as the iPhone, had almost a 62 per cent share of smartphone shipments domestically in the quarter.

Restivo said other smartphones such as the Palm Pre and the HTC Touch which runs Google's Android operating system should also attract the attention of consumers, he said.

"Canadians are migrating toward smartphones," said Restivo, senior analyst in mobility at the Toronto-based technology research firm.

Smartphones allow consumers to do things like surf the web, check email, watch TV and listen to music.

The phones also run applications developed by independent software developers that include stock trading platforms, maps and weather forecasts.But IDC said Samsung was the overall cellphone market leader in Canada in the second quarter.

Mobile phones with QWERTY keyboards were also popular with Canadians in the quarter, Restivo said.

IDC said its preliminary estimates show that cellphone shipments in Canada slipped to just more than 2.3 million, a drop of one per cent from the same quarter a year ago.

Globally, IDC says cellphone shipments were down almost 11 per cent in the quarter to 269.6 million.

Restivo said Canada's cellphone market wasn't hit as hard because of consumers' interest in smartphones. But overall, the industry isn't looking at a recovery until next year, he added.



IDC said that worldwide in the second quarter that Nokia, Samsung, LG Electronics, Motorola and Sony Ericsson were the top five mobile phone vendors.

New advanced wireless networks are expected to further spur the growth of smartphones and make them operate more like mobile computers.

Restivo said the new faster networks, called Long Term Evolution, will allow consumers to do even more with their smartphones.

"I think over the next three to give years, you are going to see people doing things with their smartphones that you wouldn't even have imagined right now." He said he doesn't expect LTE networks to make their debut in Canada until likely between 2013 and 2015.

In the United States, Verizon is expected to have its LTE network, which promises to give users the equivalent of a high-speed Internet experience like they have at home, up and running late next year.

California-based research firm iSuppli the No. 1 player Nokia has been defending its dominant position since the third quarter of last year due to rising pressure from Samsung and smartphones.

"The company has also faced rising competition from smartphone players including Research In Motion and Apple Inc," iSuppli said in a news release.