BlackBerry fanatics in the UAE are helping to lift prospects for a rebound for the maker, formerly known as Research In Motion, or RIM.
But analysts are still watching to see whether the momentum can be sustained and, more importantly, spread to other markets around the world.
Last month, a distributor of BlackBerry phones revealed sales had doubled in the UAE compared with January, according to Ashish Panjabi, the chief operating officer of Jacky’s Electronics. Across the Middle East, BlackBerry says its brand is second overall, based on market research from Canalys.
“BlackBerry is a strong brand here,” says Nick Horton, the managing director at BlackBerry for the Middle East.
“The Middle East is an important region to us,” he adds.
“It was one of the first to market for the BlackBerry 10 smartphones range and we are committed to grow our product portfolio in the region in line with our global launches.”
Yet local tech retailers and analysts say it is difficult to get a full and accurate picture of how well BlackBerry is doing these days as it attempts a comeback with a new chief executive, new mobile handsets and new sales contracts with multinational companies.
“BlackBerry is being very cagey, so it’s actually quite hard to be definitive about regional figures,” says Matthew Reed, a principal analyst and the head of research for the Middle East and Africa at Informa Telecoms & Media.
Some of the latest figures released from telecommunications regulators show between 10 per cent and 13 per cent of mobile subscribers use BlackBerrys in the UAE and Bahrain, according to market data from Informa Telecoms & Media.
Last year, sales of certain BlackBerry models, including the Z10 and Q10, did well initially but dipped after a month or two, says Mr Panjabi.
“BlackBerry has had to make several rounds of price cuts in order to remain competitive,” he adds.
At the same time, sales of Samsung and Apple smartphones have grown within the UAE and wider Arabian Gulf.
“Because of that, it’s going to be difficult for BlackBerry to regain its place,” says Simon Baker, a mobile handset analyst with IDC for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
“BlackBerry is doing quite a bit of marketing in some Middle Eastern countries and definitely trying to make something of a comeback, but I’m not really confident about it at the moment,” adds Mr Baker.
Reintroducing a traditional keyboard on a new handset is just one of many tactics BlackBerry is set to test later this year as it tries to turn around its struggling business, which peaked among investors in 2008 when its share price soared to nearly $150.
The company’s stock plummet ed to below $6, and it has replaced its top management team – twice in the past two years. It also stated its intention to sell much of its commercial property holdings in Canada.
Even the local restaurant near BlackBerry’s headquarters, which once sold a “BBM burger” in honour of the phone maker’s popular instant-messaging service, has removed the option from its menu.
But BlackBerry aims to bite back.
Mr Horton says some of its biggest strategic initiatives as part of its turnaround plan include pushing deeper within the enterprise market by signing agreements to supply new mobiles to businesses and government agencies.
The company is also growing the adoption of its BBM service, which has long been popular in the UAE and more investors believe could be spun off and sold – much like the similar service WhatsApp was recently sold to Facebook for US$19 billion.
BlackBerry’s subsidiary, QNX, is another area of focus. This business helps to equip vehicles with in-car communications technology and will focus its future growth opportunities in machine-to-machine communications, Mr Horton says.
Last month, news surfaced that the car maker Ford had dropped Microsoft in favour of BlackBerry’s QNX.
A spokesperson for QNX would not comment on the reports but noted that brands such as Acura, BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes and Porsche all currently use some of the company’s technology. “BlackBerry has a lot to offer, and now we are on the trajectory to take advantage of the opportunities in front of us,” Mr Horton says.
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