BlackBerry Will Achieve Less Than 5% Global Smartphone Market Share By 2016: Report

  • Rate this Story
  • 0
  • 0

By Vijaykumar Meti | March 20, 2013 9:05 PM EST

As BlackBerry's flagship Z10 smartphone becomes available in the United States this week, analysts from the technology research firm Gartner has predicted that BlackBerry's new BB10 OS will not achieve notable global results anytime soon.


The BlackBerry Z10 smartphone has been on sale for one month, and the first indication of how well it sold will come with BlackBerry's quarterly results on 20 March. (Credit: Reuters)

In a report released Monday, the research firm forecasts that BlackBerry will achieve less than 5 percent of the worldwide smartphone market share through 2016.

The report also noted that although the new BB10 operating system features a modernized touch technology, market conditions will make it extremely difficult for the company to mount above the Apple's iOS, Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows Phone 8 mobile platforms.

"The question is whether the new platform is sufficient to motivate the buyer to choose BlackBerry over the platforms they know. It comes down to how effective BlackBerry's marketing will be, and how much money they can spend to excite the user in favor of a BB10 device," Van Baker, research vice president at Gartner noted in the report.

Gartner also recommends that the company considering the BES10 (BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10) for a mobile device management (MDM) solution to support multiple devices, should wait for six more months until the company has proven successful in the consumer market.

"Today, the only strong MDM solution for BB10 devices is BES10. While BES10 supports iOS and Android devices using policy manager features and not the container strategy it offers for BB10 devices, nor does BlackBerry offer the same policies on BB10 devices" the report notes.

BlackBerry released the BB10 operating system in January along with two updated smartphones running the new BB10 OS. BlackBerry will launch its first BB10 smartphone in the U.S. market with carrier partner AT&T March 22.

AT&T confirmed that it will offer the BlackBerry Z10 for $199.99 with two-year contract and also begun pre-order for the device. Other U.S. network partners like T-Mobile USA and Verizon have already started pre-orders for the device. 

To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail:

To contact the editor, e-mail:

(Photo: / )
The BlackBerry Z10 smartphone has been on sale for one month, and the first indication of how well it sold will come with BlackBerry's quarterly results on 20 March. (Credit: Reuters)
  • Rate this Story
  • 0
  • 0
This article is copyrighted by IBTimes.ca, the business news leader

Join the Conversation

IBTimes TV

E-Newsletters

We value your privacy. Your email address will not be shared.