With John Chen in charge, things seem to be looking up at BlackBerry. The company, which announced major top-level reshuffle earlier this week, now says its popular BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) would come pre-installed on a variety of Android handsets. Yes, that's right. Pre-installed.
However, these handsets are not the variety that would be sold in the U.S., as the OEMs - Be, Brightstar, Celkon, EVERCOSS, IMO, Micromax, Mito, Snexian, Spice, TECNO, TiPhone and Zen - will be selling these handsets in "Africa, India, Indonesia, Latin America and the Middle East."
The "BBM will also continue to be available as a free download from Android app stores, including Google Play," the company added.
This is clearly good news for the company which is struggling to find a foothold in the highly competitive smartphone market dominated by players like Apple and Samsung. "It is clear that smartphone customers see BBM as a must have app for active conversations. The uptake we have seen for BBM since the launch on Android and iPhone is amazing," said Andrew Bocking, executive vice president for BBM at BlackBerry. "We're thrilled to be working with leading Android smartphone manufacturers from across the globe to help bring their customers the best out-of-the-box experience with BBM preinstalled."
After several hiccups, BBM for iOS and Android debuted last month and earlier this month, the app began to support iPad and iPod touch. The app, which gained popularity because it uses a unique PIN (that's tied to their BlackBerry ID) that helps identify users rather than identifying them by their phone number or other personal information, thereby offering users privacy, can support group chats, and can also be used to send voice notes, photos and other files. Not surprisingly, soon after its launch on Google Play store, the app went on to become one of the most popular free apps on Android.
And, with OEMs putting their full support behind the app, BBM's popularity is certain to head one way - up.
"Mobile messaging is a top priority for Indonesian mobile users and BBM has long been the premium messaging brand. Mobile users want their conversations to be immediate, private and reliable, which makes BBM a great fit for our devices," said Janto Djojo, chief marketing officer at EVERCOSS. "BBM is incredibly popular in Indonesia and since it's availability on Android, it's become the must have messaging app for our customers. We are therefore thrilled to be working with the BBM team at BlackBerry to preinstall BBM on our devices, making it easier than ever for our customers to get connected to BBM contacts and start chatting."
"BBM is extremely popular in Africa and we know our customers will appreciate the ability to quickly access BBM on their TECNO devices and start connecting with friends and family. BBM is now a central component of our Android-based smartphone platform offering," said Jason Liu, marketing director of TECNO GROUP. "We are pleased to announce that we're working with the BBM team at BlackBerry to install BBM on the Android smartphones we bring to market."
"At Micromax, we have built a strong mobile ecosystem for our users, which builds a strong connection with the brand by democratizing technology for masses in India. Offering BBM, one of the most popular mobile messaging services, preloaded on our smartphones is another great example of how Micromax has built a bouquet of services for our customers to connect and communicate seamlessly," said Rahul Sharma, co-Founder of Micromax. "We have now preloaded BBM on the new Canvas Turbo and the initial response from our consumers has been overwhelmingly positive. BBM will now be preloaded in the entire future range of Canvas phones."
"The BBM experience will continue to evolve for Android and iPhone users in the coming months, with updates that will include support for BBM Channels, a new service that will connect BBM users to communities of shared interests in a very engaging and intimate manner, as well as support for BBM Voice calling and BBM Video calling," BlackBerry said.
That's good news. For BlackBerry's sake.
Meanwhile, if you haven't checked out the BBM yet, we recommend that you do. It's available for free download in the App Store as well as Google Play store.
The company's shares, which trade under the ticker BBRY, were up 1.76 percent at $6.36 on the NASDAQ during late afternoon trading on Tuesday.
