Laughable Blackberry attempt

[Renierp]

I really do not know what to think, this is so pathetic... Maybe if we got more iPhone stock in SA, the charts would have been skewed a lot more

BlackBerry continues to dominate the South African smartphone market because of the devices’ great features; affordable Internet access; BBM; and network efficiency. This is according to Rui Brites, product director for Africa at Research In Motion (RIM).

...

But what makes BlackBerry so successful in South Africa? Brites explains that there are various reasons for RIM’s success in South Africa, including “excellent features and applications”, affordable access and BBM.

“BlackBerry smartphones offer an excellent set of features for social networking, and unique applications like BlackBerry App World and BBM (BlackBerry Messenger),” said Brites.

WTF makes their app world so unique? The fact that it sucks beyond understanding????

Source

[dylanj]

Yeah, thats strange dude - "excellent features and applications" doesn't explain why it's successfully in SA, and getting it's ass kicked everywhere else.

I think we're just a backwards country

[SaltyCrak]

It's a cheap "smart" phone and readily available. iPhone is still too expensive for a lot of people.

[sand_man]

At around R75 per gb for 3g data it's easy to understand why crapberries are so popular in SA.

[Cloudgazer]

At around R75 per gb for 3g data it's easy to understand why crapberries are so popular in SA.

Zigackly.
BB is only popular cause of the cheap net and BBM access. Another other reason RIM gives is bullshit.
Certainly not because of its app store or any other reason.
BB wil continue to do weel in countries that charge a fortune for internet access.
Drop those costs and BB will suffer like everywhere else in the world.

[Renierp]

No the curve models have definitely been a big driving factor, due to their low cost.

BIS is the biggest thing that makes them successful, sadly, most people do not understand that BIS does not cover ALL your data. Another interesting article on that can be found here

Yeah, thats strange dude - "excellent features and applications" Facepalm doesn't explain why it's successfully in SA, and getting it's ass kicked everywhere else.

That was the thing that boggled my mind completely. There is NOTHING, I repeat, NOTHING excellent about ANY blackberry application.

[AppleMan =)]

ONE WORD = CHEAP as SaltyCrack Says!

[Willi]

At around R75 per gb for 3g data it's easy to understand why crapberries are so popular in SA.

There is no way on God's earth that Blackberry uses 3g technology. I've had four Blackberries, and not one of them could do anything at speed. To pay <R100 per month for endless data, but have dialup speeds on a bad day, and ISDN on a good, you can keep it. kthxbye.

Note also that in the press release they call it 'affordable internet access' and not 'broadband'.

Got my iPhone 4s two days after it's launch, and have never looked back. Sure, it was cool to have BBM unlimited and 'free', but an SMS costs a few cents? Other than BBM and 'free unlimited slow data', the Blackberry offers NOTHING an iPhone/Android device does.

Surely, we cannot be on this forum, be the smug Apple lovers that everyone wants to be, have Apple products and complain about the cost to operate them? Being cutting edge comes at a price. Let the kids play with their Blackberries, let the smugness continue!

Kinda reminds me of http://theoatmeal.com/blog/apps

[parafanaylya]

iPhone is still too expensive for a lot of people.

@SaltyCrak

Well - the deals are making them affordable for contract clients. That R199 deal is a no brainer if you take anything less.

[traxinv]

The ONE AND ONLY reason BB is doing so well at this stage is because right now people wants the internets more than they want a good phone. All those years Telkom oppressed the market with bullshit internet and now people wants the sweet sweet taste of that forbidden fruit.

But as the internet becomes more and more available people will start looking for better phones.