BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is helping customers prepare to
switch to its soon-to-be-launched BlackBerry 10 smartphones that it
hopes will help it reclaim market share from rivals such as Apple Inc.
RIM is betting that the new range of touch-screen and keyboard devices, set for a January 30 launch, will revive its fortunes.
The
company was "very enthused by the engagement and response of our
customer base" to a program aimed at persuading them to adopt the
BlackBerry 10 devices, Bryan Lee, senior enterprise accounts director,
told Reuters on Wednesday.
Indeed, whether it will be successful
in clawing back market share will depend on the response from RIM's top
clients, like companies and government agencies, who have long valued
the strong security features that BlackBerry devices offer.
Lee
said more than 1,600 customers in North America had registered for its
recently launched BlackBerry 10 Ready Program and more than a thousand
were actively using the program, which offers customers access to
services, information and tools to ease their transition to the
BlackBerry 10 and the BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10.
RIM also
said its BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10, which runs the new devices on
corporate networks, was in beta testing with more than 130 major
government agencies and corporations in North America.
Shares rise
Waterloo,
Ontario-based RIM, a one-time pioneer in the now ultra-competitive
smartphone industry, has bled market share to Apple's iPhone and devices
powered by Google's market-leading Android operating system, even among
enterprise clients who once used BlackBerry devices exclusively.
Early
adoption of the long-awaited BlackBerry 10 devices by government and
corporate clients will help breathe new life into the struggling
company, whose shares are down 90 percent from an all-time high of more
than $148 in 2008.
Still, shares of RIM, which fell as low as
$6.22 in September, have more than doubled in value over the last four
months as the BlackBerry 10 launch approaches.
Lee said clients
that were beta testing the new BlackBerry Enterprise Server 10 included
more than 60 Fortune 500 companies and top North American government
agencies.
RIM promises that its new line of devices will be faster
and smoother than existing BlackBerry phones and will boast a large
catalog of apps, crucial to the success of any new line of smartphones.
Shares
of RIM were up 3.8 percent at $15.03 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq
on Wednesday, after Visa approved the smartphone company's method of
handling secure mobile payments; the technology will potentially allow
users to tap their smartphones on credit card readers and pay for
purchases.
RIM's Toronto-listed shares were up 3.9 percent at C$14.83.
© Thomson Reuters 2012
Is this the BlackBerry 10 L-Series smartphone?