Research In Motion (RIM) is gearing up for its biggest and most important product launch yet, and the BlackBerry maker clearly knows apps are a key component in giving the BlackBerry 10 platform a fighting chance in the smartphone market.
According to RIM's VP of developer relations, Alec Saunders, a BlackBerry 10 "Port-a-thon" held over the weekend brought in more than 15 000 new app submissions in 37.5 hours. RIM has held multiple BlackBerry Jams, Port-a-thons and distributed Dev Alpha devices in an effort to boost developer support for the new BlackBerry 10 platform.
A Port-a-thon is a virtual event during which developers are given technical assistance from RIM to help port their existing apps to the BlackBerry 10 platform. As incentive, RIM has been offering $100 to any developer who can port his or her app to BlackBerry 10 and get it approved. Developers submitting between two and five approved apps were also promised a free BlackBerry Playbook, and those submitting more than five approved apps were entered into a random draw for a BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device.
This is in addition to RIM's Built for BlackBerry program where, if a developer earns a minimum of $1 000 (about R8 700) on their native app in over 12 months, RIM will pay the difference between that developer's earnings for that app and $10 000 (about R87 000).
Last week, RIM's chief marketing officer, Frank Boulben, said in an interview with Fierce Wireless that at least 70 000 apps would be ready by the BlackBerry 10 launch date. RIM executives, including CEO Thorsten Heins, previously projected there would be 100 000 apps hosted by BlackBerry App World at launch. Regardless, with 70 000 apps, BlackBerry 10 will launch with more apps than any other new platform ever has.
RIM's VP of global alliances and business development, Martyn Mallick, also told The Verge in no uncertain terms that BlackBerry 10 already has the apps it needs to secure a successful launch. While Mallick admits "at the end of the day you're not going to have every app" he adds that RIM had set goals for the launch and has already "exceeded even our most optimistic metrics".
Address weaknesses
According to Boulben, RIM has been targeting the top 600 apps from iOS and Android, and BlackBerry 10 will offer 90% of those. Comparatively, when Windows Phone 8 was released, Microsoft said it had identified 60 of the top most used apps on other platforms and had secured 56 of those for the Windows Marketplace. Microsoft says there are now 120 000 apps in the Marketplace, but this includes those apps that were around in the days of Windows Phone 7.
RIM still has a long way to go in terms of playing catch up in the app space. Last week, Apple announced its App Store had reached the 40 billion app download mark, and hosts a total of 775 000 apps. The last official figures from Google stated the Google Play store had over 700 000 apps (in October), but current estimates place that figure at 800 000. A recent report by Sociable also said that based on observed growth trends "we predict that Google Play will reach 900 000 apps before April 2013 and will reach one million apps as early as June 2013".
Boulben said RIM is consciously working to address its past weaknesses which included a lack of apps, poor Web-browsing and a lack of cutting-edge hardware, and added that BlackBerry 10 will be competitive in these areas while also highlighting RIM's strengths in messaging, communication and security.
Number three
RIM will officially unveil the first BlackBerry 10 devices on 30 January. As one of RIM's top priority markets, a South African launch event will take place on that date in Sandton, Johannesburg. It is not yet clear when the devices will actually go on sale, but Cell C has already issued a statement saying it will stock BlackBerry 10 handsets in "early 2013".
In terms of the actual handsets, RIM has not been giving much away apart from the fact that it will reveal its flagship all-touch BlackBerry 10 handset, as well as a qwerty keyboard model at launch. Boulben has also said RIM plans to bring a total of six BlackBerry 10 handsets to market this year, and RIM will pursue different market segments.
Data from the Mobility 2012 study by World Wide Worx shows there are about 4.5 million BlackBerry users in SA, accounting for three-quarters of the local smartphone market and 18% of the mobile market as a whole. By comparison, in SA, Android is said to have just under a million users, while local iPhone user numbers are below 500 000.
According to figures from Gartner, in the third quarter of 2012, RIM had a 5.3% share of the global smartphone market, down from 11% in the same quarter in 2011. In a market dominated by Android and Apple's iOS, Heins has said he believes BlackBerry 10 has a "clear shot" at being the number three platform in the market and beating Microsoft's Windows 8.
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