Bango Newsroom on the mobile web

Three times more consumers browse the web from a BlackBerry than an iPhone

According to statistics released by Bango, the leading mobile payment and analytics company, BlackBerry is now the third most popular mobile phone for browsing the web in the USA, accounting for 14% of all mobile traffic. BlackBerry is also placed fifth in the UK and worldwide, above all Apple iPhones, with Nokia remaining the overall global leader with over 36% of traffic seen.

Once seen as only for business with their slick functionality and features, BlackBerry devices are increasingly becoming the preferred handset for consumers wanting to browse the internet from their phone. The BlackBerry 8330 Curve now accounts for over 28% of BlackBerrys browsing the web.

Bango has published a white paper called Increasing your slice of the BlackBerry pie, which explains the challenges and opportunities that BlackBerry now presents to businesses. A copy can be downloaded from www.bango.com/blackberrywp

Bango data collected across many millions of users accessing the internet from mobile devices also revealed that the BlackBerry user base is much more likely to use Wi-Fi as a connection method where available. Some of the newer BlackBerry devices have a Wi-Fi connectivity capability which makes it easy to locate Wi-Fi hotspots and connect “off-net”. By default, BlackBerry devices will connect by the RIM proprietary data gateway but can operate in either mode when the web browser is launched. This makes it very challenging for brands and content providers to accurately identify BlackBerry users for tracking, CRM, sales and marketing campaign purposes.

“With all the buzz surrounding the Apple iPhone and the rush to capitalize on its success, many companies fail to realize that over three times more consumers browse the web from a BlackBerry,” said Ray Anderson, CEO of Bango. “The global smartphone race is well under way, but it is the BlackBerry that is the Usain Bolt out in front.”

Bango urges companies to seize the BlackBerry opportunity and start capitalizing on its exponential growth, by ensuring their mobile sites and campaigns are optimized for these devices. As users become savvier and increasingly switch between their operator network and Wi-Fi, it is vital that companies are able to successfully track their customer’s behavior by using a mobile payment and analytics solution that works correctly on all smartphones. Without this, a significant segment of mobile web traffic will be incorrectly identified making it virtually impossible to sell content and services to these users.

“We see over 30% of users with BlackBerry devices visiting our site each month. It’s important for us to provide the most efficient operator billing experience to enable the maximum number of sales,” said Steve Crawford, Operations Director of GoSpoken. “Bango enables us to get the highest conversion rates from this slice of the market and from visitors on smartphone devices.”

In the past BlackBerry was primarily seen as an email device, with many of its users dismissing the idea of internet browsing as being something you did from a PC. However as more people choose to access the internet from smartphones – global smartphone sales grew by 27% year-on-year in Q2 (Gartner) and BlackBerry has evolved to provide great internet browsing functionality. It has now gained a reputation for ease of use and addictiveness among business users, with many of the world’s top companies choosing BlackBerry as the corporate phone of choice. With the Curve, BlackBerry has successfully made its popular functionality more accessible to non-business consumers.

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