[Dirkmyer]

Create a cross-platform BBM app.

This app will come in three varieties:

1. Free. Your basic BBM chat, not very customizable (colours, sounds, etc). These users have ads (REVENUE - CONTINUAL). They can call (voice/video) other users by using credits. They get X credits per month, and can sign up to buy credits on a monthly basis (REVENUE - CONTINUAL) or on an ad hoc basis (REVENUE - ONE TIME). Get all data to be sent over normal data, not using BIS etc. BB users will be notified that this chat is not secure.

2. Paid, not subscribed.(REVENUE - ONE TIME) BBM chat with full customization available. No ads. They get Y credits per month (Y>X) and can sign up to buy credits on a monthly basis (REVENUE - CONTINUAL) or on an ad hoc basis (REVENUE - ONE TIME). Get all data to be sent over normal data, not using BIS etc. BB users will be notified that this chat is not secure.

3. Paid, subscribed. (REVENUE - CONTINUAL) Full BBM chat, no ads, no credits. All features available, data is sent over BIS/NOC, and RIM charges user monthly fee. This would be great to capitalize on the BYOD trend, and monazite other devices.

Of course, BlackBerry users would get the full version for free, no fees.

This can also be applied to BBM music. Allow users to get it free, but limited, or sign up for small monthly fee.

And of course there is always BBM money transfers.


Of course this all hinges on the ability to bring the application to other platforms over normal data. What do you think, is it feasible?

[anon(2757538)]

Doubtful for BBM to go cross platform. Even if users pay.

Why give away your biggest selling feature.

[Dirkmyer]

Doubtful for BBM to go cross platform. Even if users pay.

Why give away your biggest selling feature.

I agree with you, and I have been doubtful, but they want to monetize BBM. I think they should at least consider creating a fee-based BBM for the Mobile Fusion customers. It would give them some more service revenues for non-BB users...

[ctuffy]

I agree with you, and I have been doubtful, but they want to monetize BBM. I think they should at least consider creating a fee-based BBM for the Mobile Fusion customers. It would give them some more service revenues for non-BB users...

So I understand your point; what advantages would someone who texts all the time find in using BBM? Not being snarky at all but when I had my BB, I never used BBM so I can't speak to its benefits. I'm hoping someone here can and will.

[Knightcrawler]

So I understand your point; what advantages would someone who texts all the time find in using BBM? Not being snarky at all but when I had my BB, I never used BBM so I can't speak to its benefits. I'm hoping someone here can and will.

Its one of those things you have to see for yourself to understand. Very hard to put in words. I guess, for me atleast, it provides a sense of immediacy.....you're not just texting someone, you're talking to someone. It just has a different feel to it, a little more personal almost.

What's app is sorta similar, but still leagues behind bbm imo.




As for service revenues though, while i think they should put out a "bbm lite" or something similar, with partial functionality, i dont see that as being much of a service revenue (if they ever even do it). What i find more interesting is their constant mention of M2M within the automotive and medical industries. I've talked about this before, but i think that's Thorstens long term vision/solution to the service revenue problem.

As Chris has mentioned several times, and Thorsten even said during the earnings call; the service revenues are not going anywhere. They'll definitely decrease on the consumer side, but that will take at least 1-2 years in north america (and longer globally). This gives RIM plenty of time to make inroads into the automotive and medical equipment industries, and these "vertical markets" will provide additional service revenue. I personally believe that, in the long term (5+ years), Rim will be generating higher then current levels of service revenue, if all goes according to plan.

For this to happen, RIM needs to make it work in one industry, to show what is possible. Once the platform has been proven in one industry, it'll open up doors for many other industries. If you've seen the BNN interview from a while back with the scotiabank analyst (papageorgio i think), he says that in the very near future "anything that can benefit from M2M will utilize M2M". Now obviously RIM's "first time", if you will, will be the automotive industry, where thanks to QNX they already have 60% market penetration. That's a great platform to build on, and within the next 2 years i think we'll start seeing RIM really leveraging that.


Now, granted, that may seem like an overly optimistic outlook, but the point im trying to make is this: BB10 really does open up a lot of avenues for generating more service revenue, and RIM's top brass has shown that they can find their way out of a tough spot. I agree with Chris that they probably dont have a structure in place yet, but that does not mean they wont at some point. Nobody is more aware of the importance of service revenues than Thorsten, and after seeing him bring RIM back from the brink, im absolutely confident he can solve this problem too.
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[Dirkmyer]

So I understand your point; what advantages would someone who texts all the time find in using BBM? Not being snarky at all but when I had my BB, I never used BBM so I can't speak to its benefits. I'm hoping someone here can and will.

I assume they wouldn't download the BBM app. It would just be another messenger service like whatsapp/kik, but hopefully with a higher quality.

To name a few reasons why BBM (and the like) have advantages:

• BBM (and other messenger apps) let users send data back and forth (pictures, voice notes, etc) easier than text.
• It doesn't deduct from an sms count (if you have one).
• BBM includes delivery and read receipt...

Feel free to add to this list. I personally like BBM way better than SMS. If I have an urgent msg I can BBM someone, and know if they read it or not. If they haven't I can PING them to get their attention. It has helped in a lot of circumstances.

[BB_Bmore]

You have to use BBM on a consistent basis and then go back to text messaging to fully appreciate what BBM is.

I liked how previous poster said it creates a sense of immediacy.

Also let's not forget BBM has been supercharged in BlackBerry10 and comparisons to other clients like whatsapp will be laughable.

I think a BBM family plan would be a good idea for RIM currently.

Sent from my BlackBerry by Choice using Tapatalk

[anon(2757538)]

There are too many options beside going cross-platform to generate some revenue.

BBM Pay transfer fees.
BBM Voice+ where users can use wifi to call a landline, not just another BBM contact. (Like how you can pay for additional features on Skype)
BBM Cloud Storage, where a user gets say 5GB and can pay for additional storage and allow certain contacts have access to certain files. Share music, movies, documents etc.

[Knightcrawler]

i really dig that BBM Cloud idea. That would be awesome!

[Dirkmyer]

There are too many options beside going cross-platform to generate some revenue.

BBM Pay transfer fees.
BBM Voice+ where users can use wifi to call a landline, not just another BBM contact. (Like how you can pay for additional features on Skype)
BBM Cloud Storage, where a user gets say 5GB and can pay for additional storage and allow certain contacts have access to certain files. Share music, movies, documents etc.

I like those ideas a lot! I think that they should all be put in place.

However, in the earning call there is huge concern over RIM's current service revenue dropping. I think the only way to mitigate the risk of declining/eliminated service fees would be a big move like cross platform BBM.

While BBM voice+ and cloud storage would provide great additional revenue, how many of the 79M subscribers would 'upgrade' to these features? This would not save RIM from a decrease in service revenues from carriers.

[Dapper37]

Let's not forget there is still a benifit to using BlackBerry data for its efficiency. People love to have choice, some will change others will stay.

[Joy1980]

"On tonight's conference call, Thorsten Heins said something that we've never heard from RIM before. He acknowledged that, going forward, there would be a change in RIM's service fee structure. Some customers will still want the "full package", including security, mobile device management, and BES 10. They will generate the highest fees for RIM. But some customers won't need any extra services from RIM and will therefore generate no fees at all for Team BlackBerry." Chris Umiastowski

I may be looking for too much in this statement but he separated security, mobile device management from BES 10. They had a service that allowed you to manage devices through BB Protect via a web console, it was available for a year at the most. They killed the free BES Express, if they offered that service as a BIS tier option, I think they could generate more fees that way.