While Tuesday 22 October 2013 will be remembered for Apple and Nokia's respective high profile launch events, beleaguered BlackBerry will also claim a well-earned footnote in the tech history books.
Despite all of its well-documented struggles over the past few months, a BlackBerry-made app now sits proudly atop the Apple App Store charts.
Yes, BBM for iOS, which was finally outed on Monday has claimed the top spot in the free apps chart in 75 countries around the world, the Canadian company revealed on Monday.
Early on Tuesday we have brought word that the Android and iPhone versions of the app had been snapped up 5m times in the first 8 hours, but that figure has now doubled to 10m (and counting).
Although the BlackBerry Messenger for Android app didn't reach the top of the charts like its Apple counterpart, the company said it was delighted with the reviews it had received from excited downloaders.
It’s been 24 hours since we resumed the launch of BBM for Android and iPhone," wrote Andrew Bocking on the official Inside BlackBerry blog, "and what a day it’s been! We’ve already had more than 10 million downloads of BBM. I want to thank our customers – old and new – our employees, and our partners for their enthusiasm and commitment. BBM is looking great on iPhone, Android and BlackBerry, and the team here is very excited about the success of this launch.
"I’m also pleased to say that BBM rose very quickly in the Apple App Store free app rankings in the first 24 hours, taking the number one slot in more than 75 countries, including the US, Canada, the UK, Indonesia and most of the Middle East. We have also seen overwhelmingly positive reviews on Google Play and the App Store. In fact, BBM has earned 60,000 five-star reviews on Google Play from about 87,000 reviews," he added.
BBM finally arrived on the rival platforms on Monday following following a mishap with the planned release last month. An unfinished version of the app had leaked online and wasa installed by almost 2m users on iPhone and Android. As a result, BlackBerry's servers were overwhlemed and the company withdrew the app.
Now it is rolling out to everyone, but those who're yet to register their interest in the app must wait until they reach the front of the queue before they will be allowed to begin using BBM.
The success of BBM on iPhone and Android brings some much-needed good news for the up-for-sale former smartphone giant. 2013 has been a stunning disappointment that has left the company on its knees, which begs the question, is this too little too late?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
