What Future for BlackBerry in Nigeria
- By Business World
- Published Monday 4th 2013
- ITWorld
- Unrated
With a flat rate of between N1,000 to N2,500 per month, the rate at which Nigerians are getting hooked to BB on daily basis is quite phenomenal and anything that would jeopardise that chance is seen by users as not only counter-productive but capable of making RIM lose the greater part of its controlling market share in the country.
Some of the reactions I got show clearly how passionate BB users are when questions as to how they would feel if the flat rate is cancelled. Here are some of them.
- Bye bye BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) = bye bye Blackberry in Nigeria. This is the reason why Blackberrys are so popular in Nigeria. The enormous prices we pay for telecoms here made BB a very attractive proposition. Now they are taking that away as well......
- Seriously, I think RIM needs to think twice before pulling a move like this. Scrapping the fixed rate data plan will damage the market share in Nigeria. Asking people to pay more now for an untested and unproven BB10 makes it a lot less compelling.
- The message is simple, kill BIS - forfeit more than a million bb users in SA
- It's a simple decision for me... If Blackberry kills BIS... then I will replace my current blackberry with the Samsung Galaxy...if they keep BIS (and its similar to what I experience\pay now)...then I'm queuing for my BB10 device....it's the only reason why Blackberry is still strong in Nigeria!
I dont really see many Nigerians going for the new BB 10 despite the hype that has greeted its debut. This is premised on the fact that there are fewer applications available on the new Blackberry 10 OS. The release of the new OS is none than a response to the new releases of latest Iphones and Android software.
Even as the above submissions suggest that Blackberry 10 is but an effort of the company to withstand competition having nothing pretty innovative about its new Blackberry 10 release, it may have even stricter survival chance in Nigeria.
While it loses its share gradually in Nigeria to other smartphones, Nigerians had only glued to the Blackberry device for its instant messaging application, BBM and the opportunity to access the internet sufficiently on affordable monthly subscription, BIS.
But users have been alarmed that the new Blackberry 10 dropped the regular BIS package style. The new blackberry 10 requires a wifi and a purchase of limited internet bandwidth to access the web with caution to acquired internet bandwidth at all times. BBM also will use in the purchased bandwidth.
Nigerian smart-phone users say they can ditch the Blackberry device for other smartphones since whatsapp and other chat applications will help them leverage for the BBM. This position tells more on the Blackberry market as some users also complained of shorter battery life on the Blackberry device.
Some of the reactions I got show clearly how passionate BB users are when questions as to how they would feel if the flat rate is cancelled. Here are some of them.
- Bye bye BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) = bye bye Blackberry in Nigeria. This is the reason why Blackberrys are so popular in Nigeria. The enormous prices we pay for telecoms here made BB a very attractive proposition. Now they are taking that away as well......
- Seriously, I think RIM needs to think twice before pulling a move like this. Scrapping the fixed rate data plan will damage the market share in Nigeria. Asking people to pay more now for an untested and unproven BB10 makes it a lot less compelling.
- The message is simple, kill BIS - forfeit more than a million bb users in SA
- It's a simple decision for me... If Blackberry kills BIS... then I will replace my current blackberry with the Samsung Galaxy...if they keep BIS (and its similar to what I experience\pay now)...then I'm queuing for my BB10 device....it's the only reason why Blackberry is still strong in Nigeria!
I dont really see many Nigerians going for the new BB 10 despite the hype that has greeted its debut. This is premised on the fact that there are fewer applications available on the new Blackberry 10 OS. The release of the new OS is none than a response to the new releases of latest Iphones and Android software.
Even as the above submissions suggest that Blackberry 10 is but an effort of the company to withstand competition having nothing pretty innovative about its new Blackberry 10 release, it may have even stricter survival chance in Nigeria.
While it loses its share gradually in Nigeria to other smartphones, Nigerians had only glued to the Blackberry device for its instant messaging application, BBM and the opportunity to access the internet sufficiently on affordable monthly subscription, BIS.
But users have been alarmed that the new Blackberry 10 dropped the regular BIS package style. The new blackberry 10 requires a wifi and a purchase of limited internet bandwidth to access the web with caution to acquired internet bandwidth at all times. BBM also will use in the purchased bandwidth.
Nigerian smart-phone users say they can ditch the Blackberry device for other smartphones since whatsapp and other chat applications will help them leverage for the BBM. This position tells more on the Blackberry market as some users also complained of shorter battery life on the Blackberry device.
