Global BlackBerry users experience service disruptions
Steve Chiotakis: Research in Motion — makers of BlackBerry smartphones — says only now are customers overseas coming back online. A disruption at its hub in London had users without email and other services in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and even parts of South America again today.
From London, here’s reporter Christopher Werth.
Christopher Werth: Blackberry users in much of the world awoke this morning to find their email inboxes were still empty. The big selling point of the company’s smartphones has been the offer of a bulletproof, reliable service.
Research in Motion has 70 million subscribers worldwide who aren’t only signed up to Blackberry smartphones, but the company’s email and other Internet services as well.
But Ben Wood, a tech analyst with CCS Insight, says this hiccup comes during a tough year, as more and more Blackberry users have switched to Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android platform.
Ben Wood: I think for people who use a Blackberry in their everyday lives — if you’re a businessman and you’ve got time critical, and business critical email coming into you, it will have dented your confidence in their platform.
He says the danger is if that dent in confidence leads to a lasting impact on its reputation.
In London, I’m Christopher Werth for Marketplace.
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