[mrfreeze574]

RIM to open 15 BlackBerry premium stores - The Times of India

Sent from Playbook

[husainpatan]

At last when nothing worked they acknowledged the people who loves them.

[kdna]

There is a large BlackBerry following in India.
Nice move.

[siddo_d]

RIM needs BlackBerry Stores in the US and UK

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using CrackBerry forums application

[husainpatan]

RIM needs BlackBerry Stores in the US and UK

Sent from my BlackBerry 9800 using CrackBerry forums application

There IS a world outside US and UK, a rather potentially richer one. India being one of them.

[emtunc]

There IS a world outside US and UK, a rather potentially richer one. India being one of them.

I think he was just pointing out that 15 v 0 in other places is quite unfair... especially when they're trying struggling in these markets.

Even one in London would be enough as a starter... something to compete with the big fat Apple Store sitting in Oxford Street.

[kevinnugent]

India is a huge emerging market. RIM could sell 10x the number of handsets there rather than North America.

Of course, the profit margin may be greatly reduced.

[kill_9]

There IS a world outside US and UK, a rather potentially richer one. India being one of them.

With a population in excess of one billion persons Research In Motion only needs to capture 10% of that population to increase their subscriber base by one hundred million. From a strictly ROI basis Blackberry retail stores in India makes more sense than in almost any other country. If these stores are successful, BlackBerry stores in the UK, USA, and Canada could be subsidized by revenues earned from the retail presence in India. However, with the wireless carrier monopoly in Canada, for instance, would it make sense to open Blackberry retail stores in competition with the wireless carriers?

[kevinnugent]

Out of curiosity, how do Blackberries work in India? BIS/BES mostly? How expensive are the plans?

I've read there are more millionaires in India than any other country. Of course, sheer numbers of the population would indicate RIM's presence is a no-brainer.

[emtunc]

How popular are BBs in India? If you was to go out your house, how many BB users would you see typically in comparison to other smart phones? What about iPhone and Android?

[walibaa]

Lot of ppl prefer bb in india n even in saudi arabia almost all have bb comparin to iphone it stands on 1:3 ratio 1 iphone 3 bb users suprisngly

[sam_b77]

Out of curiosity, how do Blackberries work in India? BIS/BES mostly? How expensive are the plans?

I've read there are more millionaires in India than any other country. Of course, sheer numbers of the population would indicate RIM's presence is a no-brainer.

BIS/BES both work, however seeing how BB is so popular, I. Sure BIS users outnumber BES users.

As for tariffs, it's rather cheap and many options are there.

1) BIS unlimited on BB with 2 gb tethered data limit is for Rs899/mo. That's a little less than $20.
You can also pay the entire amount for the year upfront for this plan and that costs Rs.6999 per year. That's around $130 per year which turns out be cheapest coming in at $10 per month.

2) Another plan is full unlimited Internet on device along with BIS for $10 per month. No tethering included in this plan.

3) for $6 per month you can get a BBM+mail package but no browsing on device.

4) I think there is also a $1 plan per month which only allows BBM. Will have to check up on it though.

[husainpatan]

*Didn't know about the $1 plan but Vodafone has a $.10/day bbm plan which turns out to be one of the cheapest i.e a mere ~$3/month.
*U'll find more bis than bes subscribers here.
*But largely and comparatively India's telco tariffs are the cheapest --- blackberry services are no exception --- as samb77 too gave out Details.
My secondary 8520 isn't on any blackberry services, I shell out a 99INR(~$2) and I get a whole GBpm. There one provider --- TATA DOCOMO ---- gives a whole lot of 8gb/month for 75~80INR (you do the math).

* to b brief: its peanuts here.

[Rootbrian]

ALRIGHT!! Now if only we had a bollywood-blackberry music video featuring many blackberry smartphones, both old, vintage and new.

CONGRATS TO INDIA AND RIMM!!!!

[russellwatters]

go RIM! Sell them BB's!

Sent from my BlackBerry 9330 using Tapatalk

[Hawkeberry]

How popular are BBs in India? If you was to go out your house, how many BB users would you see typically in comparison to other smart phones? What about iPhone and Android?

BBs are quite popular among the youth (at least in my small city). As for comparison with other phones, in ascending order :

1) iPhones - desirable but not popular at all
2) Expensive Androids
3) High end Blackberries.
4) Budget Androids
5) 8520 and 9300 Blackberries
6) Chinese brandless phones featuring irritating loud speakers and various other battery eaters
7) Feature phones

Blackberries are very popular among the youth mainly because BBM saves SMS costs + with Airtel, you get unlimited 3G with BIS. Also the fact most Indian celebs on twitter use Blackberries helps a lot in promoting it. One of the actors (Shahrukh Khan), who is a brand ambassador of Nokia actually tweeted something positive about Nokia through his Blackberry lol

[addicted44]

Blackberries are popular in India largely because of BBM. This is a good move by RIM however, because despite what people may be saying, it is losing massive mindshare to the iPhone ( which is easily the most desirable, but too expensive) and increasingly Android phones, which are far more affordable. BB20 cannot come fast enough for RIM.

[srinathkv]

That's a great start from RIM.
It should have done it long time ago to save its market share in India. RIM had very bad accessibility to its product line in India , Services are great by mobile operators. RIM! Don't forget to stock up with accessories too. I love BB phones but hard to find right/genuine accessories.
Go RIM… go…

[srinathkv]

Out of curiosity, how do Blackberries work in India? BIS/BES mostly? How expensive are the plans?

I've read there are more millionaires in India than any other country. Of course, sheer numbers of the population would indicate RIM's presence is a no-brainer.

BB's work great in India. I'm using it for last 6 years and I'm happy with service.
BIS is used by majority users and it costs $.6 to $.10 per month.
BES is great and typically cost $.20 per month