I have a friend whose son works at an imo store and he was telling me that even though they don’t carry the iPhone, the device has been good for business in his store. All the hype around the iPhone has been bringing customers in droves that just aren’t willing or can’t afford to shell out $500 or $600 bucks for a phone, but are caught up in all the iHype and want to buy or upgrade to a device better than what they have.

BlackBerrys are selling hand over fist

I was told that devices with keyboards, such as the SideKick, various Treo and Windows Mobile devices were selling pretty very well and that they couldn’t keep BlackBerrys in the store. I asked what BlackBerry devices specifically and was told primarily the BlackBerry Pearl and that it seems like every other person is asking about the BlackBerry Curve which imo, unfortunately, doesn’t carry.

My friends son told me that since his store services multiple carriers customers tend to switch if their carrier doesn’t have the phone they want. He said Verizon and Sprint customers switch to T-Mobile all the time in order to get the BlackBerry Pearl because it has a camera and T-Mobile’s service plan is cheaper. He did admit that Verizon has been selling a lot of the BlackBerry 8830 devices but said both Verizon and Sprint would make a killing if they had a Pearl or a Curve.

Pre-Paid plans are a hit

On a bit of a different note, Pre-Paid plans seem to be the “in” thing with many consumers looking at smart phones because they like to change phones as quickly as they come out. I was told that many customers come in looking for a BlackBerry but walk out with a Helio or a SideKick just because the devices have a lot of features and pre-paid plans.