Fruitful results for BlackBerry (hktdc.com)


	Norm Lo with the BlackBerry, an essential business solution that is taking the world by storm

Canadian company Research in Motion (RIM) has grown phenomenally successful globally on the strength of a small, smart and stylish product that offers a total package of wireless solutions. The BlackBerry handheld launched in 1999 proves that good things can come in small packages as it combines push email, mobile telephone, text messaging, internet faxing and web browsing with a host of other multifaceted features.

Love it or hate it, the "addictive and productive" BlackBerry is here to stay – in a big way. Currently, there are approximately 12 million BlackBerry users around the world and approximately 1.65 million BlackBerry subscribers were added from September to November 2007. According to RIM's Vice President of Asia Pacific, Norm Lo, "Hong Kong is right up there and is one of our most successful markets, not necessarily in terms of sheer numbers but in terms of very strong market penetration."

"Hong Kong is our core base in Asia Pacific. We started our first office in the region in Hong Kong five years ago and have since set up in Singapore, Australia, India, China and Japan. If you are serious about doing business in Asia-Pacific, particularly in the Chinese mainland, then you really must have a strong presence in Hong Kong," he added.

RIM started in 2002 in Hong Kong with one staff member. In mid 2006, RIM moved to a bigger office and the staff headcount has since increased to more than 50.

Superb business network

"Hong Kong is a great place to set up and do business because it has such a superb business network. The city has a robust financial and commercial sector which is a key market segment for the BlackBerry solution," said Mr Lo. "Added to that, Hong Kong has world-class infrastructure, a fair regulatory and legal framework and is a great location as gateway to China."

He said the city's highly skilled local talent pool has helped RIM's growth. "Hong Kong people understand technology and about selling technology to the marketplace. Our business is growing substantially."

On top of that, the city is at the cutting edge of the ICT sector (information and communications), and the rest of the region looks to Hong Kong as a technology leader. "Hong Kong is very influential. It has savvy customers and strong carriers and is a real market for our products and service innovations."

Mr Lo said Hong Kong already occupies a special place in RIM's history because Hong Kong-based telecom operator Hutchison – now 3 Hong Kong – was the first carrier to introduce BlackBerry to the Asia Pacific region. RIM currently has 37 carrier partners in 17 markets in Asia Pacific and six of Hong Kong's telecoms operators – 3 Hong Kong, PCCW, SmarTone, Vodafone, CSL and People's Telephone – offer the BlackBerry solution.

The Ontario-based company, which started in 1984 and has since gone on to become a world leader in the mobile communications market, derives much of its revenue from BlackBerry. Revenue for the third quarter from September to November 2007 was US$1.67 billion, up 22 per cent over the previous quarter and approximately 80 per cent of its staggering revenue was attributed to its devices. RIM adopts a similar business strategy in nearly every country it has moved into – a strategy which has obviously yielded very good results.

Ideal SME investment

"Initially, we always target the big companies and the multinational corporations (MNCs). In Hong Kong we have done that and now we are looking at the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) which make up a large market segment. The city has become a very good market as many of the SMEs cannot invest in more sophisticated technology but the handy BlackBerry smartphone is just ideal for them," explained Mr Lo.

RIM entered the mainland market last May, launching with China Mobile. "We are there for the long haul and have big plans for China including R&D and manufacturing. As we expand our business globally, manufacturing in China makes a lot of sense," said Mr Lo. RIM currently has offices in Beijing and Shanghai and will soon have one in Guangzhou.

"In the first phase, we're targeting MNCs and large enterprises in China, then in the next phase we'll address Chinese domestic businesses. In the subsequent phase we'll enter another segment of the domestic higher-end consumers," added Mr Lo.