Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been smacked down by Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) in CNBC’s Money Madness stock tournament. The network’s show “Squawk Box” set out 16 of CNBC.com’s most-clicked stocks in tournament brackets just like March Madness. It all came down to Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) versus Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) in the finals, and the BlackBerry maker came out on top—thanks to the votes of CNBC viewers.
CNBC reports that Research In Motion Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) won with 63 percent of the almost 16,000 votes cast on the network’s Facebook page. The tournament included daily polls asking viewers which of the two selected companies’ stocks will outperform the other from the beginning of the second quarter until the end of the year.
According to the network, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) was a number four seed on its side of the bracket, while Research In Motion pushed it to top seed on its side. The BlackBerry maker beat out Nokia Corporation (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V), International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) and Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) to reach the top of its side of the brackets. Meanwhile Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) pushed past Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) and Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC).
Of course at this point we still don’t know for sure if BlackBerry will be able to live up to the expectations of Squawk Box viewers. Sales of the BlackBerry Z10 have been moderate in some markets and quite good in others. The BlackBerry Q10 will be out soon. It’s the model with the traditional BlackBerry keyboard, so there’s a chance that diehard BlackBerry lovers are waiting for that one to become available.
It’s rather fitting really in a way that Research In Motion should end up facing off with Apple in the finals. The new BlackBerry handsets are taking on Apple’s iPhone while Research In Motion tries to stay alive after being crowded out by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) in the smartphone market. So far this year, BlackBerry’s stock has struggled a little less lately as the company attempts a recovery, while Apple’s stock has struggled a lot more in comparison.
