Research In Motion, the Canadian firm behind the BlackBerry, have rolled out the brass band to trumpet the success of their handsets in the UK throughout 2010 and December in particular. BlackBerry as a brand seems to be bolstered by sales of their Curve range, available on prepay and affordable SIM-free deals, like the Curve 8520 handsets, and the slightly fancier Curve 3G models. Statistics come courtesy of market research firm GfK.
According to the stats. BlackBerry had a 36% share of the overall UK smartphone market in December 2010 making them the No.1 smartphone brand in the UK. BlackBerrys proved to be something of a Christmas gift hit, shifting over 500,000 units. The figures point to BlackBerry being the No.1 prepay smartphone brand with 51.1% of all prepay handsets sales . We have to agree that’s a lot of stockings stuffed!
Part of the BlackBerry brand’s success over this period can be put down to the uptake of mobile social networking in lower cost handsets. They have called another couple first places, claiming their handsets to be the No.1 home of the Twitterati by reporting over 6 million Twitter app downloads, as well as claiming to be the No.1 for ‘engagement on Facebook’. Reports that a RIM representative will be available to attend all the weddings are, as yet, unsubstantiated.
The BlackBerry brand has in the past veered towards the business/productivity market thanks to its physical keyboard and secure email infrastructure, with handsets like the Bold 9780 honouring this tradition. However they have also infiltrated the consumer market, through valuable exposure as something of a celebrity fashion accessory. For the higher end of the market, handsets such as the hybrid qwerty/touchscreen Torch 9800 and the entirely touch orientated Storm 2 still appeal to the high end user. The much lauded security of their emailing and messenger service, has had much positive press in disaster situations as well. During the July 7th London bombings for example, as the mobile networks ground to a halt with the sudden increase in traffic, BlackBerry users reported that their BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) and email services still remained active.
The BlackBerry user base, is now expanding into new territories. For the younger, more cost conscious prepay user, the attraction is clear towards more affordable handsets like the Curve 8520 and the Curve 3G. Both contain all the social networking and multimedia functions that you’d care to shake a stick at, and the ease of the classic qwerty keypad loved by messaging addicts the world over. The brand exclusive BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service also provides a solid cost-free means of staying in touch with 55 million other BlackBerry users worldwide, without fear of international text costs or tipping over your monthly text allowances. BBM itself has also developed into something of a social network in its own right, with profiles, file sharing and recently enabling the exchange of contact details via visual QR Codes, rather than the slightly cumbersome PIN id’s. Whilst many of us have at some point heard or referred to them as CrackBerrys, due to the addictive power of their messenging services, this also points to their success at creating a strong user loyalty.
Whilst some are happy enough to splash something in the £500+ range for a high end touchy-feely handset off contract, many more utilise the subsidised model to offset the initial costs. An 18 or 24 month contract to a mobile provider puts handsets such as the Samsung’s Galaxy S, HTC’s Desire range, Apples iphone and the higher end Blackberry Storm 2 within range of anyone who is prepared to shoulder the higher monthly rate. However it shows that in the prepay end of the market, consumers are demanding smarter phones. The inevitable forward momentum of technology means features that were once deemed high end, soon filter down to become standard issue. The handsets of the near future at CES proved that manufacturers were looking to faster 4G connections, 3D screens, dual core processors and Near Field Communications (think contactless credit or Oyster cards) to push the envelope for high end cutting edge mobile tech, and keep us tech heads all cooing over, and shelling out for the latest flash mobiles.
So whilst RIM’s stats rightfully celebrate their 2010 success in the UK, in the world smartphone market, the picture is somewhat different. Industry analysts and data crunchers Canalsys released figures indicating that Google’s unstoppable ‘Droid army is dominating the worldwide smartphone market overall, with a 33% market share. This share is made up of handsets notably by Samsung, LG and HTC, but its not so much the handset that matters, rather the platform itself that is important. Android phones dominated sales with 33.3 million handset sales, growing 600% and edging Nokia off the top spot. Apple and RIM seem some way behind, selling 16.2 million and 14.6 million units respectively by the end of 2010.
In the near future RIM are looking to make a move into the lucrative and yet Apple/Android dominated tablet market, with the upcoming release of the BlackBerry Playbook. They must hope that some of that brand loyalty will carry users over from their established and new markets. If Apple were to make a similar yet opposite move and release the oft rumored ‘iPhone Nano’, a smaller, affordable iOS device, it could be seen as an aggressive maneuver to expand out from the high end handset market, into territory that is currently being gobbled up by RIM in both the UK and also the US and Latin America. Whilst Apple have never been closely associated with the words ‘cheap’ or ‘affordable’, this could help them win back some of this market share from Google and possibly spell trouble for RIM.
However, it begs the question, do Apple really need to make such a move to attack Google’s dominance? Further figures this time from Asymco- (seriously, who comes up with these names?) shows Apple ending 2010 having gobbled up a staggering 51% of the entire mobile industry’s profit pie chart. In any event, if Apple ever were to make such a move, they may find themselves having to physically prize the phones out of the hands of hoards of loyal BlackBerry addicts, before they can take over any of RIM’s market.
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