BlackBerry May Lose Out To Windows Phone In The UK [Research]

BlackBerry still has a loyal user base in the UK however Microsoft’s Windows Phone, which has already overtook it in the U.S., is chasing down the Canadian manufacturer across the pond as well. New data from research group eMarketer shows that if there’s no significant bump in the market share of BlackBerry, then Windows Phone might take its position by the end of this year and will continue to extend that lead into 2015.

According to eMarketer’s data there were over 3.6 million BlackBerry users in the United Kingdom at the end of 2013 as opposed to 1.9 million users on Windows Phone and legacy Windows Mobile. The research group predicts that by the end of 2014 BB will have 2.4 million users against Windows Phone’s 2.7 million.

The prospects appear to be grim for BlackBerry towards the end of 2015 as the prediction is that it will be left with just 1.4 million users. The UK was one of BlackBerry’s strongest markets in all of Europe, a country where its smartphones were the go-to devices for law firms, financial institutions and government departments.

BlackBerry’s devices were really popular with teens in the UK as well as many preferred BBM over texting, but since the messaging service was opened up for other platforms, those who might have stuck with BB devices just for BBM may have migrated to more popular platforms.

But as well have come to know by now BlackBerry is not going to go down without a fight. Within a year it has gone from being up for sale with little interest to back on growth footing. It is launching two new high-end smartphones in the coming months, the Passport and the Classic, and some expect that they just might aid it in recovering some of the massive ground that it has lost.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Cellphones
Tags: BlackBerry, Windows Phone