Samsung customers in Nigeria and other sub-
Sahara African countries can now download the
BBM app from the Samsung Apps Store, while
iPhone and other Android-based smartphone
users will be able to download the app in three
days’ time, a release from BlackBerry yesterday
indicated.
The deployment was halted last month when an
unauthorised copy of the app was leaked for
Android smartphones and caused problems with
the BlackBerry Messenger platform.
When that leaked, the company said around a
million people downloaded it for their Android
smartphones. What they have now revealed is
that more than one million people also found
creative ways to “side load” BBM onto their
iPhone.
In order to avoid the problems and manage
server loads, the company is phasing the rollout
of the BBM app for other devices.
The BBM has more than 60 million active
customers monthly on BlackBerry alone,
and the overwhelming majority use it an
average of 90 minutes per day.
BBM customers collectively send and receive
more than 10 billion messages each day, nearly
twice as many messages per user per day
compared to other mobile messaging apps.
Messages on BBM are typically read within
seconds, reflecting how truly engaged the BBM
customers are.
The Executive Vice-President for BBM at
BlackBerry, Mr. Andrew Bocking, said, “BBM is a
very engaging messaging service that is simple
to use, easy to personalise and has an
immediacy that is necessary for mobile
communications.
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