FollowThe BlackBerry Messenger will start arriving on a non-BlackBerry device for the first time from this summer. The revelation was made by the company CEO Thorsten Heins during a BlackBerry Live event held in May this year though he refused to divulge further details on the matter. So a specific time frame for the BBM to debut on iOS or Android is still elusive.
Sunil Lalvani, BlackBerry India Managing Director too had reiterated the company’s stand on this a few weeks ago during the launch of the Q5 handset in India. However, Lalvani has something better to share in that he stated the instant messenger service should be expected to arrive at iOS or Android devices by September this year.
The BBM service is believed to be a direct rival of the WhatsApp service and analysts believe BlackBerry’s move to unleash its instant messenger service on other platform will open up a direct and steady stream of revenue for the company. This since there are far more handsets currently in the market besed on iOS and Android and a presence on these will be far more profitable than remaining restricted to only BB devices.
However, experts have also cautioned that it could prove counterproductive for BlackBerry as its BBM service are among its best features and making the same available on other platform might make one to be less inclined to pick up a BlackBerry device. BlackBerry has only just begun to witness a greater uptake of its devices after it had unveiled the BB10 operating system early in the year. However, it still is in the process of establishing itself firmly among the iPhones or the sea of Android based devices that have taken the smartphone segment by storm. Even Windows seems to be enjoying a wider acceptance than BlackBerry at the moment and might have its handset business affected badly once BBM starts to arrive on rival platforms.
This is great news! I switched from BlackBerry about 2 years ago and miss BBM.