What if RIM could release BBM to other OS's but still keep it exclusive to Blackberry?

**Knightcrawler** · 11-30-2012, 01:04 AM

I've been using whatsapp alot recently and honestly its painful to use it after having used bbm for so long. It lacks so much functionality and its integration (atleast on bb) is laughable. BUT, its cross platform. Without it, i couldn't keep up with friends who are spread between toronto, london and dubai and who all use different devices.

Rim's made a big deal about keep bbm exclusive, but there's a (very good) case to be made for releasing it to the wild as well. So why can't we have the best of both worlds?

What if Rim were to release a limited version of bbm for other platforms which is text only, and keeps bbm voice and bbm video for blackberry devices? Now that they're expanding bbm, it opens up possibilities to share select features with the mass public and use it to entice them into coming back to blackberry. It's a great way to market your product while simultaneously collecting service fees from other platforms/users.

What do you guys think? Is this something you'd like to see? Do you think it can be an effective strategy, or is it doomed to fail?

**Bla1ze** · 11-30-2012, 01:39 AM

Doomed to fail because the logic would come down to "RIM released another half baked product" for other platforms. Though, they certainly wouldn't be the first.. lol

See: Outlook on Android.

**Roo Zilla** · 11-30-2012, 02:00 AM

Currently, a very large number of Blackberries in emerging markets are purchased for the sole reason of using BBM, and text BBM at that too. If BBM gets released on other platforms, it removes the the single most important reason to buy a Blackberry for millions of potential buyers. RIM is probably rightfully fearful of potential large loss in sales and user base. As nice as it might be to have cross platform BBM, the potential upside is almost nil, it's doubtful RIM will sell significantly more devices because if cross platform BBM, but the potential downside is quite dramatic.

**otacon** · 11-30-2012, 02:22 AM

Why would RIM want to license BB10 on other phones when they have a rocking phone coming along? Better to keep it all in the pocket.

**Kwsn** · 11-30-2012, 02:36 AM

Originally Posted by otacon

Why would RIM want to license BB10 on other phones when they have a rocking phone coming along? Better to keep it all in the pocket.

I think you may have misread. The OP was referring to BBM not the BB10 OS

**TheStoof** · 11-30-2012, 08:11 AM

Originally Posted by otacon

Why would RIM want to license BB10 on other phones when they have a rocking phone coming along? Better to keep it all in the pocket.

I think RIM should release BBM on iOS/Android to communicate with people that have Blackberries, but not to communicate with other iOS/Android users. Investors wouldn't like that and it would confuse the layman.

**jafrul** · 11-30-2012, 08:31 AM

Originally Posted by TheStoof

I think RIM should release BBM on iOS/Android to communicate with people that have Blackberries, but not to communicate with other iOS/Android users. Investors wouldn't like that and it would confuse the layman.

good idea...
reason for ios and android to download bbm so that they can communicate with us.
if they want to communicate between ios and android, they can use whatsapp.
we've been so used to having bbm AND whatsapp... so, why don't them as well..

Sent from my unsliding slider BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

**RedxD** · 11-30-2012, 09:19 AM

Wouldn't bbm on other platforms need BIS or BES? How would it work?

**Knightcrawler** · 11-30-2012, 12:48 PM

Originally Posted by Bla1ze

Doomed to fail because the logic would come down to "RIM released another half baked product" for other platforms. Though, they certainly wouldn't be the first.. lol

See: Outlook on Android.

I see what you're getting at, but it wouldn't really be half baked. It would just be the old/original bbm experience that current bb devices have.

As for loss of market share in emerging markets, that's a fair point.

**TheStoof** · 11-30-2012, 01:06 PM

Originally Posted by Knightcrawler

I see what you're getting at, but it wouldn't really be half baked. It would just be the old/original bbm experience that current bb devices have.

As for loss of market share in emerging markets, that's a fair point.

Haters gonna hate.

**OniPod** · 11-30-2012, 01:24 PM

Originally Posted by TheStoof

I think RIM should release BBM on iOS/Android to communicate with people that have Blackberries, but not to communicate with other iOS/Android users. Investors wouldn't like that and it would confuse the layman.

They have(without only messaging BBM users thing), it's called LiveProfile. RIM bought em out and it's as close as you can get to BBM without having a BlackBerry. It can be used on all platforms (Not sure about Windows)
I have said it before, and I will say it again. You want BBM, get a BlackBerry.

**kbz1960** · 11-30-2012, 01:33 PM

I don't like proprietary stuff. People don't only know other people that like the same things. Things should be multi platform. How many people here only know and communicate with others that only like and use what you do?

**Knightcrawler** · 11-30-2012, 06:25 PM

Rim could always make it a carrier app, so vertian carriers only will have it (for example, only US/european carriers). That can solve the emerging markets issue. NA is where making bbm cross platform would result in the most upside. emerging markets can stay bb only if you want to use bbm.

I just think that there's definitely a way for Rim to make bbm available cross platform while still keeping it exclusive, by offering different versions of it

**Dapper37** · 11-30-2012, 08:21 PM

I say BBM voice, video, music and the rest of the features is worth 5 to 6 bucks a month. Release the beast!

**Plazmic Flame** · 11-30-2012, 08:44 PM

I strongly believe that BBM going multiple platform is a good thing and the perfect timing is after the launch and availability of BB10 devices. Release it for iOS, Android, WP7/8 and charge a one time fee of $0.99. This will give the user a BBID, then in the future if they decide to switch to the platform, they can use that same email address (BBID) import all their BBM contacts.

Some would say this would be a bad thing for BlackBerry but I believe and know that there are a ton of people like myself who are currently on other platforms, waiting to switch back to BlackBerry when the Ten drops and even if one app was released for my platform, it wouldn't keep me away. You're either going to switch or not.

**CairnsRock** · 11-30-2012, 08:54 PM

Walled gardens only work if all your contacts live in the garden. So in Asia it appears to be a reason. I live in NA and none of my friends use bbm.

I have a playbook with video chat, but none of my friends own a pb.

When the telephone was first rolled out, what if they only worked on one type of phone? Ludicrous isnt it.

**Roo Zilla** · 11-30-2012, 11:56 PM

Originally Posted by Knightcrawler

Rim could always make it a carrier app, so vertian carriers only will have it (for example, only US/european carriers). That can solve the emerging markets issue. NA is where making bbm cross platform would result in the most upside. emerging markets can stay bb only if you want to use bbm.

I just think that there's definitely a way for Rim to make bbm available cross platform while still keeping it exclusive, by offering different versions of it

So you want to make the BBM app for other platforms a carrier app? Why would a carrier want to do this? There's no incentive unless they can monetize it. It's not such a great feature that people are going to switch from other platforms or other carriers if one were to offer it. As it stands, the carriers hate the existence of similar apps in App Store and Google Play. For App Store, ATT originally wanted Apple to disallow apps that mimicked core telephony features. For iOS, how would a carrier even distribute the app to the public? The only way to get it on would be to stick it in the App Store, since Apple doesn't allow carrier apps on iPhone.

Once again, what is the upside of cross-platform BBM for RIM, even in NA? Is the existence of a cross platform BBM going to get more people to switch to BB? Highly doubtful. If anything, I would suspect it might work the other way. People who were on the fence about Blackberry because they like BBM might just go Android and install the BBM app instead of buying a Blackberry. Making BBM cross platform removes one more barrier to staying with Blackberry. Having a cross platform BBM might be a nice feature for it's current users in NA, but it's not going to win over any new ones. When all is said and done, RIM is in the business of selling phones, and any feature they can keep proprietary can't hurt them.

**JR A** · 12-01-2012, 12:49 AM

Originally Posted by jafrul

good idea...
reason for ios and android to download bbm so that they can communicate with us.
if they want to communicate between ios and android, they can use whatsapp.
we've been so used to having bbm AND whatsapp... so, why don't them as well..

Sent from my unsliding slider BlackBerry 9800 using Tapatalk

Because if that happened, people with an iOS/Android would say "Forget it, we're the majority, you're the minority. Text me or use Whatsapp or whatever..."

It would push more people away than welcome them.

**Mr_Comet** · 12-01-2012, 05:38 AM

BBM on computer platforms will be useful than on mobile platforms. Since BlackBerry ID is being used now, it would be easier to implement.

**QuantumQnx** · 12-01-2012, 01:26 PM

I think it is clear that BlackBerry needs to leverage BBM but they also need to keep features exclusive to the platform. I think instead of opening up BBM they should integrate it with other social media apps like twitter, facebook and what's app. Think about it. The fact that twitter can be linked with facebook has only made it more popular. Same logic could apply to BBM. Let BBM users add their what's app account so that they can use BBM as an all-in-one solution. In a way this solves the "none of my friends are on BBM problem" and BlackBerry has already started integration across platforms with BlackBerry 10 Hub. This also solves the problem of users leaving the platform since BBM would still be exclusive to BlackBerry. Still fleshing the idea out...thoughts?

**sydsam** · 12-01-2012, 03:17 PM

They need to release with full functionality to other OS's, but charge for it, and kill that whatsapp bull.

**cgk** · 12-01-2012, 03:27 PM

What is the killer advantage of BBM on other platforms?

**RedxD** · 12-01-2012, 05:15 PM

I find it more reliable and faster than other apps, I've never really like whatsapp

**calicocat2010** · 12-01-2012, 07:19 PM

I agree, keep some features exclusive to BlackBerry users and the rest multi-cross platform.

**Knightcrawler** · 12-02-2012, 05:25 AM

Originally Posted by cgk

What is the killer advantage of BBM on other platforms?

its not about advantage, or getting ppl to switch. bbm is a service that rim can provide, and charge for. that's what im getting at.

clearly whatsapp is popular, but no where near as good as bbm yet. rim could easily crush whats app and dominate the multi-platform chat app sector, if they were to compete. whether they charge consumers for it, or carriers, i have no clue. just saying it should be given serious thought.