The BlackBerry Curve was again the #1 mobile phone in the third quarter, edging out the two most recent iPhones, as smartphone prices dropped slightly and consumers jumped at buy-one-get-one offerings. That's according to research released Monday by NPD Group.

NPD’s Mobile Phone Track placed the BlackBerry Curve first, followed by the iPhone 3GS, the iPhone 3G, and two LG devices, the LG enV3 and enV Touch.

The average purchase price for mobile phones dropped $3 to $85 from the same period last year, NPD said.

“Carriers have been heavily promoting the latest advanced handsets, which has spurred recent growth in the smartphone market and an increase in the number of smartphone brands available to consumers,” Ross Rubin, director of industry analysis at The NPD Group, said as part of the announcement. “For example, while there was only one Android device available in the fourth quarter of last year, now there are eight available from three major carriers.”

NPD also found that during the quarter, 8 percent of new handsets were purchased at carrier stores, another 8 percent were bought at mass merchants, and 9 percent were purchased at electronics stores.

News Source : - http://www.e-gear.com/