BBM Attracts over 20m New Active Users in First Week

Blackberry has said the BBM community, which is a private social network for real and active conversations, has grown to more than 80 million active users across BlackBerry, Android and iPhone devices globally.

After the launch of BBM on Android and iPhone devices, recently, with more than 10 million downloads in the first 24 hours, BBM has now ended its first week with more than 80 million monthly active users, including over 20 million new users on Android and iPhone devices, Blackberry said.
According to the Executive Vice President of BBM at Blackberry Mr. Andrew Bocking, during the first week, BBM was the top free overall app in 35 countries in Google Play and in 107 countries in the App StoreSM, and continues to maintain a strong position in key markets such as Canada, the US, the UK, Indonesia and much of the Middle East, among others.
“It is great to see so many people downloading BBM, but the true measurement for us is engagement – the connections being made and the conversations in which our BBM community engages. The power of BBM has always been the active, real conversation and interaction that our customers enjoy,” he said, adding: “From here on out, we will focus on active users of BBM and will no longer focus on simple download numbers.”
With the BBM community now at more than 80 million active users around the globe, users are connecting on the private social network like never before. This past weekend, BlackBerry was able to remove the virtual line-up so that Android and iPhone users can now immediately download, sign in and start using BBM without having to wait.
Bocking said BBM users were enjoying the immediacy and control that messenger offers as they chat with their new contacts – either one-to-one, in multi-person chats or as part of a BBM Group. The delivered and read statuses, as well as the message-in-progress alert, keep people engaged and active in conversations on BBM. BBM users can also share files such as photos, and voice notes, as well as update their statuses with ease. BBM Groups allows photo, calendar, chat and file sharing for up to 30 people in a user-generated community, Bocking said.
“Every BBM user has a unique PIN that helps maintains their privacy, so users never have to give out their phone number or email address to a new or casual contact. BlackBerry ID connects with a person’s PIN, BBM contact list and services to make device switching quick and easy,” he added.
The BBM experience will continue to evolve. In the coming months, BlackBerry said it would deliver BBM Video calling, BBM Voice calling and BBM Channels – a new community building service to connect BBM users even more broadly, to Android and iPhone users.