Oh boy, it seems like everyone under the sun has been scurrying to develop a smartphone that could dethrone the might iPhone and it looks like it finally happened, at least as far as the First Quarter of 2009 is concerned.

According to market researchers at The NPD Group, Research in Motion's BlackBerry Curve moved past Apple's iPhone in the first quarter to become the best-selling mobile phone in the United States.

And that's not all, according to the survey of the five best-selling smartphones in first three months of the year, three of the spots went to RIM Blackberry models! The results came in as follows: BlackBerry Curve, Apple iPhone 3G, BlackBerry Storm, BlackBerry Pearl and the T-Mobile G1 with Google's Android operating system.

RIM snagged nearly 50 percent of the consumer smartphone market in the first quarter, up 15 percent from the previous period, as Apple's and Palm's share both dropped 10 percent during that time.

During its second quarter this year, Apple shipped 3.8 million iPhones. RIM shipped 7.8 million BlackBerrys in its fourth quarter.