BlackBerry global smartphone market shareE-book sales in the US
BlackBerry's smartphone market share collapsing as American e-book sales grew. The negative correlation is the long story of one company's product becoming irrelevant while another company's product (the Kindle, which BlackBerry could have built) reshaped a different industry.
BlackBerry's global smartphone market share collapsed from about 20 percent in 2008 to under 1 percent by 2016 as iPhone and Android replaced the QWERTY-keyboard default. US e-book sales grew from about 50 million dollars in 2008 to over 1 billion by 2016 as Amazon's Kindle and broader digital-reading platforms scaled. Two completely unrelated lines on opposite trajectories sharing a window because the same nine years saw two completely different industries respond to two completely different smartphone-era pressures.
One incumbent collapsed while one new format scaled. The decade rewarded the format that knew what was coming.
As an Amazon Associate, getspurious.com earns from qualifying purchases. Learn more.
Want to learn more about why correlations like “BlackBerry global smartphone market share” vs “E-book sales in the US” don't prove causation? Read our guide to statistical thinking.
