Cellmania says it has become part of BlackBerry maker Research In Motion under undisclosed terms. Cellmania is "bringing their expertise in application storefront development to the BlackBerry platform," a company spokesperson said Wednesday. "However, RIM is not providing any further comment at this time."

Cellmania reportedly has 23 customers spread across four continents and currently provides some two million content items. Although RIM offers mobile software in its App World, the inventory of mobile apps is a fraction of what rivals deliver, so Cellmania's technology could help it better compete with Google's Android Market and Apple's App Store.

"It is refreshing when a company understands the threat to its position in the market, resists the not-invented-here instincts, and opens up for acquisition in the way RIM has," said Al Hilwa, director of application development software at IDC. "It shows a strong survival instinct and adaptability."

A Generation Behind

The Mountain View, Calif.-based Cellmania said it will continue to support its client base, which consists of multiple devices and content types. What Hilwa finds interesting about RIM's acquisition is its potential as a content hub for more than just the BlackBerry platform.

"That is a new play and would position them well if they choose to keep that part of Cellmania's portfolio active," Hilwa explained. "Generally, the more traffic you can get to your catalog, the more visible the apps for your platform will be."

Still, RIM's future hinges on more than a storefront overhaul. RIM had high hopes earlier this month when the company launched a new Torch smartphone featuring the latest version of the Blackberry OS, but analysts were unimpressed. "With this specific phone, the screen size and resolution are probably a generation behind the state of the art today from Apple or Android," Hilwa said.

Gartner currently ranks RIM as number two in the global smartphone OS market, but the research firm's analysts don't expect the BlackBerry OS 6.0 upgrade to attract many new users, although it may stop loyal BlackBerry users from defecting. "We are expecting Android to become the second-largest OS at a worldwide level before the end of the year," said Gartner Research Vice President Carolina Milanesi.

U.S. Market Slide

According to IDC, RIM topped 11 million units shipped for the first time in the second quarter, due in part to the BlackBerry Pearl 3G and the BlackBerry Tour 9650 launches across multiple markets. But RIM lost share for the fifth straight quarter in the lucrative North America market, the firm said.

Android took the lead in the U.S. in the second quarter by rapidly growing its market share to 34.1 percent -- up from just 3.9 percent a year earlier, according to Gartner. By contrast, RIM fell to 33.3 percent of the U.S. smartphone market versus a 52.5 percent share in the year-earlier quarter, Milanesi noted.

Founded in 1999, Cellmania has long been an alternative app outlet for mobile software developers, and was undoubtedly an important factor that led RIM to acquire the privately held company.

"I have been seeing an uptick lately in developer interest for RIM as a target for applications, so it appears that what RIM is doing is starting to resonate overall," Hilwa said. "I would still like them to broaden the appeal of App World, including supporting more effectively the freemium model that has become commonplace in the apps space."

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