In recent times RIMs woes have been much publicized as the company continues to lose market share to the likes of the iPhone and Android platforms. The BlackBerry platform was once the big player in the business sector, but now its dominance is falling against the iPhones popularity.

It now seems RIMs smartphone offering is beginning to lose its dominance in Washington, as Global Post are reporting that staffers at Capitol Hill are now choosing Apple’s iPhone instead of the BlackBerry. A recent survey by the National Journal has found that 77 percent favor the BlackBerry compared to the previous survey taken in 2009 where the figure was 93 percent.

What will worry RIM even more though is the fact that only one percent of those asked plans to purchase a BlackBerry in the foreseeable future. The slide of the BlackBerry at the nation’s capital comes as more workers decide to take up the iPhone.

The survey found that amongst the Capitol Hill staffers 41 percent are already using iPhones, as are 42 percent of Washington DC private sector workers, and 27 percent of federal executives. This compares to only 13 percent of Capitol Hill staffers that owned an iPhone in 2009, with 15 percent of the private sector and only 9 percent in the executive branch.

These figures mirror what is happening to the BlackBerry market share across the US, as back in January the platform accounted for only 15.2 percent of the smartphone market in the country, which had slipped from 17.2 percent in a few months.

During last year the iPhone was the most popular smartphone sold in the country with the BlackBerry Curve 8530 coming in at number 4 according to a comScore list. The National Journal survey questioned 273 Capitol Hill staffers, 279 federal executives, and 673 private sector PR professionals, which also found that many Capitol Hill staffers believe Twitter is a good news source, as federal executives see it as “pointless babble”.