It is no news that Blackberry is currently witnessing a boom in demand in many African countries.
What would their recent decision to make the Blackberry Messenger service available on iOS and Android have on demand for the Blackberry service in African countries?
We think this would lead to a net migration of customers to iOS and Android. The Blackberry Messenger is a core feature behind Africans love for Blackberry smart phones. BBM drastically reduces the cost of instant messaging for users and portability to other smart phone platforms means that Africans would no longer be locked to Blackberry devices to enjoy the BBM experience.
BlackBerry made this announcement at it annual three day BlackBerry Live. Now for the first time the mobile messaging service will be available to iOS and Android users in summer subject to approval by Google Play and the Apple App Store.
This means that one would now be able to connect with friends and family using other platforms to connect over BBM.
Customers on other mobile platforms will enjoy the same services as those presently on the BlackBerry platform.
Users will enjoy the immediacy of BBM chats, multi-person chats, voice notes sharing, files sharing and blackberry groups where BBM users can set up group chat with a maximum of 30 other users.
The BlackBerry team has definitely been working hard to bring the much-adored BBM experience to a wider group of mobile users.
Today, BlackBerry also announced BBM Channels, a new social engagement platform within BBM that will allow customers to connect with the businesses, brands, celebrities and groups they are passionate about.
BlackBerry plans to add support for BBM Channels as well as voice and video chatting for iOS and Android later this year, subject to approval by the Apple App Store and Google Play. If approved by Apple and Google, the BBM app will be available as a free download in the Apple App StoreSM and Google Play store. Additional details about system requirements and availability will be announced closer to the launch.
