"BlackBerry devices are for the Class; not for the mass"

Prosenjit Sen
Director – Channel Sales
BlackBerry India

The Indian mobile phone market has matured a lot over the past decade and the rate of this evolution has been nothing less than exponential. According to CMR’s India Mobile Handsets Market Review, CY 2012, April 2013 release, India registered 15.2 million smartphones shipments for CY (January-December) 2012 as compared to 11.2 million smartphones shipments for CY (January-December) 2011. The smartphone users of India have become technologically smarter and developed an almost insatiable desire for feature-rich and sophisticated devices. 

The mobile industry is all set to witness the next phase of innovation and with the launch of BlackBerry’s latest mobile computing platform BlackBerry 10, it can claim that it has commenced the new age of mobile computing. Competition is strong in the Indian market with all major players focussed on driving the business proposition very aggressively. BlackBerry views the competition as something which urges it to further push the limits and raise the bar of innovation in the field of smartphone innovation.

Post BlackBerry Z10 Launch…

BlackBerry is not a niche player either in India or globally as it has an eclectic group of customers who belong to both enterprise and consumer segment of smartphone users in India. “We are one of the leading players in the smartphone segment and all our devices have been identified as highly efficient productivity tools which cater to the needs and requirements of an evolved smartphone user. The aspirational value of a BlackBerry smartphone is unmatched and the launch of BlackBerry Z10 has been a successful in strengthening our brand positioning. In a period of less than two months since the launch of Z10 in India, we have registered a highly positive response from the Indian market and the device has been successful in winning the confidence of enterprise and consumer segments of smartphone users. The sale figures of BlackBerry Z10 have been very encouraging and we have clearly introduced a fresh dynamism in the smartphone market of India by the introduction of this mobile computing device,” says Prosenjit Sen, Director – Channel Sales, BlackBerry India. 

Go-to-Market Strategy

Over the years, BlackBerry has realized that the consumer segment is also excited about smartphone segment and started addressing consumer segment with a range of relevant products and services. The BlackBerry Curve devices running on OS 7 are its entry-level smartphones that are primarily targeted at the consumer segment, majority of which is the youth of the country. For the more sophisticated users, it has the Torch and Bold series running on OS 7, BlackBerry Z10 and soon to be launched BlackBerry Q10 are based on Blackberry’s latest flagship mobile computing platform, BlackBerry 10 and will cater to the high-end smartphone market.

BlackBerry Z10 is the first mobile computing device based on BlackBerry 10 platform and is positioned as an aspirational device in the market. Well thought retail distribution and marketing activity is specifically planned for BlackBerry Z10. The company has identified 49 cities and 2,000 retail touch points for the sale of BlackBerry Z10 and is currently engaged in promoting the smartphone in these cities via ATL campaigns and BTL promotional activities. 

Positioning…

“BlackBerry is very clear about the market positioning of its smartphones. Beyond the normal functionality of making calls and sending text messages, we have developed the BlackBerry device to be an end-to-end productivity tool with a high utility quotient. The devices deploy the very best of smartphone technology to give a unique communication experience to the users. The brand BlackBerry has always maintained an aspirational level for the users and we will be continuing with this philosophy on which the company has been built,” opines Prosenjit. He further adds that a BlackBerry device is not meant for everyone – it is a device for the classes and not the masses. This has been its brand positioning and are going to further strengthen the same irrespective of the strategic maneuvers which the competitors may resort to in future. 

Z10 Pageant… 

BlackBerry is a brand which grew rapidly in the enterprise and carrier space and in the last three years, it has started to grow in the consumer market as well. In the last couple of years, it has grown every quarter, which in itself is a commendable achievement. The company has re-examined its priorities, reassessed products, and the direction in which we would want to move forward and BlackBerry 10 is the outcome of these measures and calculated effort undertaken. Z10 is the manifestation of all the hard work and diligence which has gone into innovation, research and development of the mobile computing platform and the company is certain that it will play a crucial role in re-asserting our positioning in the industry.