BlackBerry is experiencing growth in some markets, despite a dive in revenue, says Research In Motion (RIM) co-CEO Jim Balsillie.
Revenue for the first quarter of the 2012 financial year plummeted 12% from the previous quarter, the company reported earlier this month.
The company predicts a further decline in revenue in the next quarter.
The cellphone maker also revealed earlier this month that it had started handing out layoff notices to employees, and market analysts predict the cellphone maker's woes will continue as cheap Android phones enter the market.
However, Balsillie says RIM's market share continues to grow “in numerous markets around the world”.
According to World Wide Worx MD, Arthur Goldstuck, 4% of people in cities and towns in SA had a Blackberry at the end of 2010, and 24% indicated that their next phone would be a BlackBerry.
Market analysts Ryan Smit of BMI-T and Steven Ambrose, MD of WWW Strategy, describe RIM's local outlook as “outstanding” and “spectacular”.
Smit explains that the BlackBerry's performance in SA is in stark contrast to that in more mature markets. He believes this is probably due to the price point offered by BlackBerry phones and the rise of the BlackBerry Messaging service, which he describes as the “most popular messaging platform” in the country.
According to Smit, BlackBerry phones are also relatively cheap compared to other smartphones and they appeal to a low-income per capita market because they offer e-mail, Internet browsing and instant messaging at a flat rate.
Ambrose argues that the discrepancy in RIM's performance in mature and emerging markets can also be attributed to the timing of its entrance into the market.
He explains that RIM entered the market when Internet penetration was taking off in SA. However, in Europe, e-mail and connectivity were no longer a novelty and users favoured Apple and Android platforms, which were more multimedia friendly, adds Ambrose.
Smit and Ambrose are both optimistic about RIM's outlook for the future in SA.
Ambrose predicts that emerging market growth will support BlackBerry for the next three to five years.
On the other hand, Smit believes RIM's growth in SA will continue into the next year, but warns that the company will have to decrease the time to market of its new products if it wants to maintain the new customers it has created in SA and other emerging markets.
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