All over the web there is the subtle impression that BlackBerry (the makers of the Smartphones by the same name, after changing their name from Research In Motion) is a company with a dying brand in its hands. This impression was splattered all over the web for a couple of years, before the so-called rebound with the introduction of the revolutionary Z10 and X10 (I'll talk about these in a separate post).
I would love to 'enlighten' doubters and naysayers that over here in Nigeria, the demand for BlackBerry phones has remained on the rise for the past 3-4 years. We simply love the brand! BlackBerry does not need to design new phones for Nigerians to ensure that we continue to buy them. We had been technology starved for generations when suddenly, our telecoms carriers made the monumental decision to start allowing support for BlackBerrys. The rest is history. Youths all over Universities and Colleges are scrambling to buy these smartphones, even if they can often only afford 'UK Used' ones. We simply don't care whether it's 'used' or 'reclaimed' or new. It doesn't matter. What does, here in the tropics of West Africa is whether one is forward-thinking enough to purchase one. Anyone.
Before the advent or entrance of the BlackBerry smartphone into the Nigerian and, automatically, the African market, most of us had access to only monochrome or two-color phones and only the privileged traveled out of the country and were able to use phones that seemed out of the reach of the average Nigerian. Fast-forward to today and you would quickly realize that the first truly affordable and modern smartphones to reach the hands of the average working Nigerian was the BlackBerry. Suddenly young people had access to email, rich music and video playback capability, social connectivity (BBM, Facebook, Twitter, etc), and the BlackBerry gained a cult following.
It's been a few years after the first BlackBerrys arrived on African soil, sporting translucent trackballs with tactile feedback, and a whole new form of internet freedom. BlackBerrys now float around in the hands of a considerable percentage of our 170 Million people. We have always loved the device, and we do not forget things like this easily here, close to the harsh clime of the Sahara.
I don't care what the International media are saying about BlackBerry and her future. I say they should move their headquarters to Nigeria and enjoy market monopoly that most brands will never smell or taste. Today, tomorrow, we will continue to buy BlackBerrys. Because those little black things brought us some kind of freedom. Now we can reach out to the world...and perhaps touch the sky.
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