Qantas switches to iPhone in BlackBerry blow

Flagship Australian airline Qantas said it was ditching the BlackBerry for Apple's iPhone after strong demand from staff, deepening woes for troubled Canadian maker Research in Motion. Qantas on Thursday said it was switching 1,300 employee phones from RIM's BlackBerry to the popular Apple device after a "large majority" of workers expressed a preference for the iPhone. The change will also result in "significant cost savings", a Qantas spokeswoman told AFP. Analysts have warned that RIM's handset portfolio is outdated and struggling to remain relevant against its fast-evolving rivals. BlackBerry has seen its Australian market share slide from a 2009 peak of nine percent to just 0.1 percent this month, compared with Apple's 30.5 percent and 56.9 percent for Google's Android devices. RIM reported a US$518 million quarterly loss last month and said it would lay off 5,000 staff as its global market share halved to 6.4 percent from 13.6 percent a year earlier. Its Australian office said BlackBerry remained committed to the corporate sector and was "one of the most reliable and cost-effective solutions for mobile enterprise".