Despite all of the hype around the third coming of the iPhone in June and the impending release of the Palm Pre, Yankee Group has just released numbers showing that more people are interested in buying a BlackBerry than an iPhone. And the lack of interest in Android is even more surprising.

According to Yankee Group senior analyst Josh Martin, a survey showed that 44 percent of those interested in buying a smart phone wanted a BlackBerry device, while just 30 percent were interested in buying an iPhone. “This survey was fielded after iPhone 3.0 was announced as well meaning that that release may not tip the scales in Apple’s favor,” Martin said in his Yankee Group blog post “Does everyone want a smartphone?”

The analyst firm attributes the interest in RIM to the variety of devices across carriers and at various price points. Many of RIM’s devices can be had for below the $199 starting price of the iPhone.

There’s also a total lack of interest in Android. The survey showed that less than 4 percent of consumers were interested in buying an Android device.

Despite the ailing economy, 41 percent of the respondents were interested in buying a new handset with a data plan. This theme appears to have held through different economic brackets, too; 30 percent of the respondents that made under $10,000В  per year were also ready to buy a smartphone. We can’t put too much stock in that last number though, because if you’re making under $10,000 a year and can afford a smart phone, you probably have family members who are earning more.