After a difficult couple of years, with mounting losses and
declining share, Research In Motion has launched its BlackBerry 10
operating system, unveiled 2 new phones and changed its name to
BlackBerry. So what does the future hold for BlackBerry?
Let's look back at Kantar data from the past year:
Key Numbers
- 1.1% BlackBerry US share for the 12 weeks w/e 23rd December 2012
- 6.4% BlackBerry UK share for the 12 weeks w/e 23rd December 2012
Kantar Worldpanel Comtech data shows in the US,
Blackberry market share dropped 5%, from 6.1% (for the 12 weeks w/e
25th December 2011) to 1.1% (for the 12 weeks w/e
23rd December 2012). While in the UK share dropped from
16% to 6.4% in the same period.
Ad Spend data from Kantar Media paints an equally difficult
picture. We can see RIM US ad spend reduce from $102,511,000 in
2009 to $25,341,000 in 2011. While most recent data, for the first
half of 2012 (January-September 2012), shows Apple spent
$252,985,000 and Samsung $212,929,000, compared to $33,287,000
spent by BlackBerry.
It's no surprise we've seen BlackBerry share under pressure over
the last year as without any notable new releases any manufacturer
would struggle to maintain sales. However, by concentrating their
resources into completely redesigning the OS and handsets, rather
than bringing out incremental updates, it feels like BlackBerry is
now in a good position to bring the fight to Android and Apple.
BlackBerry retains a huge number of owners worldwide, both consumer
and enterprise with which to focus their initial efforts and with
reviews of BB10 quietly positive, they may well also be able to
attract those looking for something a little different.
We'll be tracking BlackBerry ad spend and smartphone sales data
throughout 2013, so visit Kantar.com to keep track of how
BlackBerry and its competitors are performing or sign up for our email
alerts.