Thorsten Heins says BlackBerry 10 Platform Expects to See 100,000 Apps by the Time it will Launch in the U.S.


By: Ali Raza  |   March 19th, 2013   |   Android, Apple, Google, Mobile Apps, News, O Canada, Smartphones

After launching its latest BlackBerry 10 software and hardware in different parts of the world, BlackBerry is now all set to release it in the US on Friday, March 22. The US market is considered the toughest of all markets for BlackBerry, as previously the struggles of the Canadian manufacturer began from this very country. Before that BlackBerry had a decent base of customers in the US, but today its market share stands at 6 percent only thanks to numerous Android-based devices and Apple’s iPhone. Another major reason behind BlackBerry’s decline in the US was its app ecosystem that did not offer as many applications as Apple’s App Store or Google’s Play. Therefore, back in February, when the Waterloo-based company launched its brand new BB10 platform the company made 70,000 apps available on its app store that is known as BlackBerry World. Now when the smartphone maker is about to release its flagship all-touch Z10 in the US, BlackBerry’s Chief Executive Officer, Thorsten Heins has said that their platform could see up to 100,000 apps by the time they will launch it in the United States.

 

The app ecosystem from BlackBerry is not as strong as its competitor’s app stores because of the lack of numerous popular apps. However it is gaining apps quickly and is growing its offerings immensely. Instagram and Netflix did not show much interest in developing an app for BlackBerry’s latest platform but Twitter and LinkedIn on the other hand updated their apps on BlackBerry World. Shortly after that popular messaging app WhatsApp made itself available for the BB10 platform. This should encourage other major applications to make themselves available on BB10’s platform.

 

BlackBerry has worked really hard to make its new software and hardware successful, so it could compete against its rivals and become the third best smartphone manufacturer in the world after Apple and Samsung. Therefore, to bounce back in the game BalckBerry’s CEO Thorsten Heins adapted a different approach and launched the first all-touch smartphone from the company. To beat the heat, Heins and company have also developed a traditional BlackBerry smartphone, the Q10 that possess physical QWERTY keyboard, but for the time being they are holding it back. As the company has plans to launch it sometime during the second quarter of this year.

 

Source: TechVibes

Photo: Engadget

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