RIM gains U.S. market share, Apple/Motorola lose: IDC

. NEW YORK (Reuters) - Research in Motion Ltd's (RIM.TO) BlackBerry increased its share of the U.S. smartphone market in the first quarter while Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhone lost ground, according to a report from IDC.

According to the report Rim's share of the U.S. market for advanced phones with computer like features such as e-mail rose to 44.5 percent in the first quarter from 35.1 percent in the fourth quarter while iPhone's share fell to 19.2 percent from 26.7 percent in the fourth quarter.

Motorola Inc MOT.N, the leading phone maker in the U.S., also saw its sales dwindle to 2.6 percent of the market for smartphones from 7.5 percent in the fourth quarter.

Palm Inc <PALM.O saw its share increase to 13.4 percent from 7.9 percent in the fourth quarter while Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's (005930.KS) share rose to 8.6 percent from 5.1 percent, IDC said.

High Tech Computer Corp's (2498.TW) share fell to 4.1 percent from 7.9 percent in the previous quarter.