SA is one of the fastest-growing markets worldwide for BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM).
The Canadian company is enjoying growth rates in SA similar to those in some countries in South America, according to co-CEO Jim Balsillie, who was in the country last week to ride the Pick n Pay Argus Cycle Tour.
Sales in SA are rising by more than 100%/year, he says, as consumers snap up smartphones.
In recent years, RIM, which has a market value of US$42bn, has successfully broadened the appeal of the BlackBerry, traditionally a device used by businesspeople for e-mail.
It now also enjoys strong appeal in the retail consumer market as a device for accessing online chat and social networking services like Facebook.
One of the big selling points of BlackBerry phones is they offer uncapped on-device Internet access for a limited monthly fee. Operators are able to do this because of an advanced compression technology developed by RIM that reduces the amount of traffic flowing across their networks.
Vodacom, which hosted Balsillie on his visit to SA, says it has more than 250 000 BlackBerry smartphones active on its network. The operator says it is enjoying strong demand for BlackBerrys from the “younger generation”.
Balsillie, 49, who has a personal net wealth of nearly $2bn according to Forbes magazine, says the SA and broader African markets are not unlike South America, where RIM has experienced “explosive growth”.
Retail consumers are fuelling the company’s growth, he says. Only 20% of BlackBerry devices are sold into the enterprise market. “The consumer market in some countries is two or three times bigger than the enterprise market,” he says. — Duncan McLeod, TechCentral
- Subscribe to our free daily newsletter
- Follow us on Twitter or on Facebook