Mexico City: The iPhone was an also-ran for Monica Amilpas when she chose her first smartphone last year. She opted for the BlackBerry Curve because it had an instant-messaging feature the Apple device lacked.
"BlackBerry Messenger has helped me a lot because the little messages are free," said Amilpas, 31, who works at a consulting firm in Mexico City and stays in touch with clients, colleagues and family through BBM, as it's known.
"Before I had to use text messages, but this doesn't cost anything." The messaging feature and lower-cost phones have boosted the popularity of Research In Motion Ltd's BlackBerry in the developing world, making it the top smartphone brand in Latin America this year, researcher IDC says. RIM is relying on emerging markets for revenue growth as competition from Apple and Google's Android cut into its US and European sales.
While the iPhone has won market share in the United States, its price tag of about $700 (Dh2,574) puts it out of reach for people in Mexico, Brazil, India and Indonesia, where most users prepay for mobile service because they lack the credit to qualify for contracts that offer subsidised phones. At an America Movil SAB store in Mexico City, the Curve costs $273 without a contract, compared with $760 for the iPhone 4.
Eighty-six per cent of America Movil's clients prepay for service, according to the carrier, Latin America's largest. Besides luring consumers with lower pricing, RIM has won over wireless-service providers who like the BlackBerry's data compression, says Kevin Restivo, an analyst at IDC in Toronto. "What RIM has done really well is create a device for all users," he said.
"RIM has some very distinct advantages that people tend to overlook, advantages that attract carriers."
Advertising campaign
RIM ran an international advertising campaign this year that featured tag lines like "Conversations come naturally on BBM," touting the service as a way to stay in touch more cheaply than calling and more quickly than texting.
The company, based in Waterloo, Ontario, announced plans in March to start manufacturing the entry-level Curve in Brazil to eliminate import tariffs that can be as much as 30 per cent. The Curve already costs about $340 less than the iPhone over the life of a two-year contract in Brazil, according to Morgan Keegan & Co.
