Blackberry bets its new model will be popular in cellphone-crazy Philippines

MANILA, Philippines - Research in Motion (RIM), the Canadian company that makes the popular Blackberry smart phone, is upbeat on the Philippine market despite the deepening global recession. This was disclosed by Gregory Wade, RIM regional vice president for Asia-Pacific during a briefing in Makati, the company’s first in the Philippines. Although he declined to give growth projections for the Philippines, Wade told GMANews.TV that the company has already said it expects subscribers to rise by 3.9 million worldwide come end-May 2010. “We have strong guidance on the first quarter. We are happy with the fact that we have 25 million subscribers around the globe," he said. “We are positive and bullish about where we are going in the future." This month, RIM will be selling the much-awaited BlackBerry Storm in the Philippines. Besides being the first touch-screen Blackberry, the smart phone also features the world’s first “clickable" touch-screen and delivers communications and multimedia features. The BlackBerry Storm will be available from Globe Telecom Inc. and Smart Communications Inc. The BlackBerry Storm smart phone’s unique SurePress touchscreen was cited as GSMA’s Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough award at the Mobile World Congress 2009. When touched, the screen depresses slightly, enhancing the interface for both typing and navigation. The BlackBerry Storm has a sleek, stylish design with chromed frame, contoured corners and stainless steel back. The clickable touchscreen has 480x360 resolution at 184 pixels per inch to deliver sharp and bright colors. It has a full HTML browser working in either portrait or landscape orientation and support for mobile video streaming on sites such as YouTube and other entertainment portals. It has purpose-built applications to easily access popular instant messaging and social networking services such as Facebook, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, Google Talk and Flickr. It can synchronize with iTunes and Windows Media Player to enjoy music or through a home stereo using Bluetooth and BlackBerry Music Gateway. Next: Newest Blackberry ideal for consumers, business users Newest Blackberry ideal for consumers, business users “The BlackBerry Storm is an ideal choice for both consumers and business customers who are looking for a versatile and fashionable smartphone," Wade said. “In Indonesia, they even have a pre-paid plan for Blackberry users," Wade said. When asked if that model can be implemented here, the executive said that option is in the hands of the operators. Asked whether a prepaid BlackBerry Internet service option will be available in the Philippines similar to Indonesia, he said it is up to Smart and Globe to decide. “Those steps were taken by the operators, saying there is a great market opportunity in the Indonesian market and to offer a different variety of pricing options for consumers in Indonesia," he said. Meanwhile, the launch of the newest Blackberry phone appears to be the latest battleground of the rivalry between Smart and Globe. On April 21, both operators tried to outdo each other in launching Blackberry Storm to the local market by almost simultaneously issuing press releases announcing the latest smart phone’s availability. In October last year, the ruthless competition between the two mobile companies took an interesting turn when Smart unveiled the Blackberry Bold as a pre-emptive move against Globe, which was also then about to introduce the unit. Smart tried to pull out a similar trick with the Blackberry Storm, but this time just a few hours ahead of Globe. Perhaps sensing the brewing storm, RIM admitted in its press briefing a shift in strategy in terms launching new Blackberry models in the Philippines. It pointed out that while it will continue to distribute its products through the local carriers, it may have to launch new units on its own. Next: Blackberry acknowledges that it has become mainstream Blackberry acknowledges that it has become mainstream Acknowledging that Blackberry has become mainstream, RIM also signaled a change in its target market. Unlike in its early life when it specifically targeted the corporate segment, RIM said the time has come for Blackberry to be used by ordinary consumers. In other parts of the world, the composition of Blackberry clients is now evenly split between corporate users and ordinary consumers, Wade said. This new focus on the consumer segment is what Globe emphasized in its press statement since Smart earlier issued a statement stressing that it is the first to launch the Blackberry Storm in the Philippines. However, Smart’s offer is available only for business users this coming June. Under Globe’s program, Filipino consumers for the first time can get their own personal BlackBerry plan under the post-paid model. The Ayala-owned operator is offering its personal Blackberry plans, which include the Storm in the line-up, starting on April 20. This means that although officially Smart is scheduled to unveil the latest Blackberry model in June, Globe has already launched it to consumers. Globe’s personal BlackBerry plans are available at Plan 700 for 5 MB of data, which is approximately 55 emails per day. The Plan 850 gives subscriber 8 MB of data for approximately 90 emails per day. The Plan 1100 allows 10 MB of data so its user gets approximately 115 emails per day. The company knew that the Blackberry has attained mainstream status when it projected that it will add about 3.9 million subscribers this first quarter alone. “When Blackberry was introduced in 1999, it took us five years to reach one million subscribers," he said. The Canadian firm is confident that BlackBerry Storm will thrive in a SMS-crazy country like the Philippines because of its SurePress touch-screen technology, which unlike other touch-screen phones, provides “typing and navigation experience they can actually feel." - With Ruby Anne M. Rubio, GMANews.TV