Paradox in motion

FROM JULY TILL SEPTEMBER, the government threatened to ban BlackBerry messenger services in India because of security issues, but Research in Motion (RIM), the Canadian parent firm, was unfazed. Its shipments to India increased from 34,000 in the third quarter of 2009 to 220,000 in the same quarter of 2010, a jump of almost 550%, according to consulting firm Strategy Analytics.

Even before the government raised security concerns, RIM was planning to increase its market share and visibility in emerging markets such as India. “RIM is trying to change its positioning,” says Kedar Sohoni, president, Informate Mobile Intelligence, a telecom research agency.

It reckons that BlackBerry’s user base is no more limited to the suave executive. So it has started wooing the youth by slashing prices, added bright colours, and by introducing models such as 3G Curve and the touchscreen Torch.