Odhora Alo: Apple swipes another customer from BlackBerry

Bloomberg

BlackBerry has lost a string of customers in recent months.

Stock of BlackBerry (Nasdaq: BBRY), formerly Research in Motion, is trying to bounce back today after diving when The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) announced it would no longer be utilizing BlackBerry OS. Instead, The Home Depot?s 10,000 store managers and corporate-level employees - including those at the 11 Triangle store locations - are switching to the iPhone 4S from Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL).

It?s not the first big contract to switch from BlackBerry. In November, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board announced it was switching 400 users to Apple?s iPhone 5, and in September, Immigration and Customs Enforcement dropped more than 17,600 BlackBerry devices for iPhones. Additionally, the Transportation Security Administration announced it was spending $3 million on Apple products instead of BlackBerry devices. The Defense Department Information Systems Agency also took BlackBerry off of its planned mobile device purchases.

Yesterday?s news sent BlackBerry shares down nearly 5 percent.

Shares were trading up by about 1 percent early Tuesday at $15.91.

Additionally, new carrier Solavei introduced BlackBerry's Z10 in the U.S. for $999.

The Home Depot has 11 stores in the Triangle, including locations on Walnut Street in Cary and Capital Boulevard in Raleigh.

BlackBerry has an operation in Morrisville.