Can New BlackBerry Smartphones Compete With iPhone 5? One Survey Says No

Research in Motion has unveiled five new BlackBerry smartphones the company is launching in the attempt to regain market share it is losing fast, but new information reveals it may be too little, too late.

An analyst says his survey shows Apple's forthcoming iPhone 5 may double the company's smartphone market share while also revealing the majority of BlackBerry owners would switch to an iPhone.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster says his survey of 216 smartphone users found that 64 percent of them said their next purchase will be an iPhone. Munster said his survey also found that 67 percent of BlackBerry owners would switch to an iPhone.

Apple has sold more than 110 million iPhones since launching the smartphone product in 2007. The company is expected to release its new iPhone 5 in September or October.

But Research in Motion is still trying to regain a hold on the smartphone market it dominated four years ago, before Apple's iPhone and Google's Android system began to quickly take that away.

RIM released the new BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Torch smartphone models on Wednesday, its first new BlackBerry smartphone products in a year.

The Canadian-based company said the BlackBerry Bold models 9900 and 9930 and three BlackBerry Torch Models 9810, 9850, and 9860 will operate on the company's new BlackBerry 7 operating system.

"This is the largest global launch of BlackBerry smartphones in our history," said RIM's co-chief executive Mike Lazaridis in a statement.

But more may not be better.

While RIM releases multiple products of different variations, Apple customers and potential customers, according to Munster's survey, want just one thing -- the iPhone.

More than 37 percent of U.S. mobile consumers now have a smartphone, and Apple's iPhone is the dominant product, while Google's Android is the dominant operating system since it is used by multiple manufacturers.

RIM's BlackBerry market share remains above 20 percent, but it's dropping fast and the survey says it could practically evaporate overnight as more consumers want the iPhone over other products, including new BlackBerry models.