Telecom Lead India: Research In Motion (RIM), maker of
Blackberry smartphones will expand its footprint to 250 cities in India by the
end of this fiscal.
By the end of March this year, the Canadian smartphone
major had its presence in 80 top cities on the country, which grew from 40 in
December last year.
RIM India managing director Sunil Dutt said that the
company will take the current number to 250 locations by the end of this
fiscal.
RIM has been vying with dipping sales globally and has
recently shifted its focus towards emerging markets such as India, Indonesia
and Middle – East countries.
The company recently launched its two new smartphone,
BlackBerry Curve 9220, and BlackBerry Curve 9230 in the Indian market, as it
looks to increase its sales. Through these smartphones, the company is trying
to tap users with social networking needs.
Overall there are 18.3 million BlackBerry users in the
country, out of which 90 percent are BlackBerry Messenger users. As of March
2012, RIM had 15 per cent market share, up from 13 per cent in FY11.
“The domestic smartphone market is growing at over
40 percent this year, after clipping at 87 percent last year. I am sure we will
be able to grow much faster than the industry rate,” Dutt added.
Very recently, the company launched the BlackBerry
Porsche P-9981, developed in association with Porsche Design in the domestic
market for a whopping Rs 1.39 lakh a piece as part of its strategy to grow in
this market fast.
Amazon and Facebook may seek to buy BlackBerry
As per another report, Research in Motion is considering
splitting its business in two, separating its struggling handset manufacturing
division from its messaging network.
In May, RIM hired JP Morgan and RBC Capital to look at
its strategic options. The report said the smartphone company could break off
its handset division into a separate listed company or sell it.
editor@telecomlead.com
