When Nielsen released their June data on the US Smartphone Market, I was surprised to see that RIM’s BlackBerry took the number two spot of the market share (tied with HTC).
I thought Samsung and HTC would be dueling it out on 2nd place but Sammy just got a 10% share for both its Android and WP7 phones. Just when a lot of people thought that BlackBerry is dying out in the North American market this result was indeed surprising… and nice to hear as well for BB fans out there.
Here are some more facts about RIM and their BlackBerry that you might find interesting:
- 52.3 million devices were shipped in FY11 (43% growth on FY10)
- Over 50% of the BlackBerry subscriber base is non-enterprise (it’s not just for business anymore folks)
- Approximately 500,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets have been shipped to date (will hit the country in August)
- RIM’s revenue for FY11 was $19.9 billion (up 33% from FY10)
Here’s how the BlackBerry is excelling:
- #1 mobile phone in Indonesia (GfK, April 2011)
- #1 selling smartphone (BlackBerry Curve 8520) in The Philippines and Thailand (GfK, April 2011)
- #2 best-selling smartphone vendor in Southeast Asia (by shipments excluding Japan) Source: IDC, November 2010)
- the 8th most valuable tech brand, and 25h most valuable brand in the world: BlackBerry (Millward Brown Brandz survey, April 2011)
- BlackBerry is #1 smartphone used by Twitter users to access and update their profile
And if you’re wondering about BlackBerry’s main draw to consumers, the BBM:
- There are over 45 million BBM users around the world
- 2 million new users every month
- 70% of BBM users use BBM daily
And here are some more interesting things RIM has in store for the Philippines when we had a chance to talk with BlackBerry reps recently
- They’re going to make things more affordable. I heard something about P999/monthly for unlimited BIS plus being consumable. Mums the word but they’re saying things will get more affordable. Think Sun.
- 9 BlackBerry Expert Centers. These are like your service centers for BlackBerry products scattered in major metropolis around the country. You can get expert advice, troubleshooting service, they would even lend you a replacement unit if you need to surrender your device for service.
- 2-year warranty. Yup, all BlackBerry smartphones bought from authorized local dealers will now have a 2-year warranty. The PlayBook will get the usual 1-year warranty.
- Local apps are coming with RIM partnering with Novare (BlackBerry app development company) as their local partner.
With all the fanfare going on with iOS and Android… and even the upcoming WP7 update, BlackBerry is still around and will continue to be a top smartphone. Think we can overtake Indonesia as BlackBerry country?
This article originally appeared at - pinoytechblog
