Blackberry losing the teen market?

Posted by admin on July 5, 2011 under Industry News | Be the First to Comment

According to research by GfK Blackberry’s position as smart phone of choice in the teen market is at threat from HTC due to the number of reasonably priced handset on the market and the number of free Android apps available (originally reported in (new media age).

Blackberry handsets currently hold the lions share of the teen market largely due to their BBM functionality reducing the need for costly text messages. However the report suggests that the availability of Android apps providing rival messaging services are likely to remove Blackberry’s main USP to this audience.

Blackberry currently command 21% market share or under 25 smart phone users however in the past few months GfK’s data suggests HTC handset usage has grown rapidly whilst iPhone ownership is larger in the 16-24 year old category once price is less of an issue.

It will be interesting to see how Blackberry responds to the diminishing appeal of their main USP in the youth market especially given their handsets tend to be less ‘sexy’ and design led which has obvious appeal to the younger generation.