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RIM: Chinese BlackBerry plans still on track
…and why it's not afraid of the RedBerry…

By Reuters

Published: Monday 14 January 2008

BlackBerry-maker RIM says its business in China is developing as planned, although the company has not yet started selling handsets there.

Charles Liu, RIM's general manager for China, indicated the decision as to when to sell its smart phones was in the hands of its service partner, China Mobile. RIM had said in October it expected sales to start in 2007.

Liu, RIM's top executive in China, said: "You should ask China Mobile about the timeline. From my perspective, everything is according to plan."

A RIM representative confirmed no handsets had been officially sold yet in the mainland Chinese market. China Mobile was not immediately available for comment.

RIM said in October it had sent its first shipment of BlackBerry phones to China and expected to start selling them later in the year. Analysts hailed that as a major breakthrough in RIM's long quest to penetrate the market.

RIM also said at the time that a deal with Alcatel-Lucent to distribute BlackBerry smart phones in China, as well as its existing service partnership with China Mobile, gave it a powerful platform.

Liu said: "We are working with China Mobile to build a step-by-step approach. In building our business in China, we are focused on our partnership."

RIM has long recognised China's importance in its global plans and first officially announced plans to sell the BlackBerry there in May 2006.

Rumoured delays may have arisen in the past because RIM needed to satisfy Beijing that its handsets posed no security threat to China's communication networks, according to sector analysts.

China Mobile has launched the SIM card business for the BlackBerry and Liu said sales are healthy, although he declined to give the number of subscribers.

He said: "In general, we're satisfied with how the business is growing here, it's very good."

Liu added: "China Mobile is basically targeting enterprises. Later on more services will be launched but we need to start from somewhere."

When the BlackBerry handset is officially launched in China, it will face stiff competition from low-cost rivals, including a popular local service nicknamed RedBerry.

Liu said: "It's always fun to work in a competitive environment and BlackBerry has always welcomed competition."

The BlackBerry is available from more than 300 carriers around the world in about 120 countries and China represents its last major Asian frontier.