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Articles
South African Blackberries ripe for the pickingThe BlackBerry first came to South Africa on the 6th of March 2005, thanks to an alliance between Research in Motion (RIM – the makers of Blackberry), Vodafone and Vodacom. Initially only two models graced South Africa’s shores: the BlackBerry 7290 and the BlackBerry 7100v. Now, MTN and Vodacom vie for South Africa’s BlackBerry market with a range of models, including the BlackBerry Pearl and the BlackBerry Curve – which is the smallest and lightest full QWERTY BlackBerry smartphone currently available. While BlackBerries are among the most popular smartphones in the world (some reports list it as the second most popular smartphone in the world), uptake has been relatively slow in South Africa, but the numbers are rising. South Africa is considered to be one of the most promising emerging markets for mobile devices, which is why BlackBerry established a regional office here. The only other country to be so honoured is India. One of the reasons why BlackBerry’s popularity is growing is because the company focuses so intently on meeting the individual needs of their customers, and their aggressive marketing strategy targets “prosumers”, or people who use their mobile devices for professional and private use. |
