Smartphone Users Unaware of BlackBerry’s Presence in the U.S.

By: Zain Nabi  |   April 11th, 2013   |   Android, Apple, News, O Canada, Smartphones

Since BlackBerry did not include its sales figures of the U.S. smartphone market in its quarterly report launched recently, everybody was keeping their fingers crossed with respect to the response the signature product of the Canadian-based company received in the country, which provides the biggest market. However, there have been some astonishing facts reported in the media, claiming that a majority of the smartphone users in the U.S. do not even know that the smartphone exists in the country.

 

According to a survey by research firm MKM, more than 80 per cent of the smartphone users in the U.S. are unaware that the new BlackBerry Z10 that was launched back in January is available for sale in the country. The survey, which was conducted in last three weeks, asked different questions from a sample of 1,500 U.S. smartphone users. They were asked: “Are you aware that BlackBerry 10 was launched in Canada and Europe in later January 2013?” 82.6% of the 1,500 people answered “No”.

 

While this survey raises some doubts on BlackBerry’s progress in the country, it also poses many questions towards BlackBerry’s marketing strategy. Indeed, the sample of 1,500 customers is not enough to ascertain the actual response the smartphone is getting in the country, but the staggering figure of 82.6% nevertheless is high. According to Barron’s, Michael Genovese of MKM Partners said in his report:

 

“We were surprised that only 13% expect the BB10 to be available in the U.S. immediately or within the next 30 days. In fact the survey was administered between March 7th and April 2nd, 2013, which bracketed AT&T’s (March 22nd), T-Mobile’s (March 26th) and Verizon’s (March 28th) Z10 U.S. launches by about two weeks. The ineffectiveness of BlackBerry’s marketing plan is highlighted by the 63% of respondents who were completely unsure as to when the BB10 would be released in the U.S.”

 

Moreover, the survey did not show good results for Microsoft’s Windows Phone either. It supported the bandwagon and rated Samsung (using Android) and Apple (using iOS) as far better than other smartphone brands.