Following the initial day one download success, BlackBerry has confirmed that its now cross-platform BBM service is to come pre-loaded on future Android phones.
With social giants such as Facebook and Twitter having already struck up partnerships with leading phone manufacturers to have their dedicated apps installed on devices out of the box, BlackBerry has revealed that BBM will be the next pre-installed offering you will find on your new smartphone.
“Thus far we have done over a dozen OEM preloads on Android OEMs,” David Proulx, BlackBerry’s Senior Director of BBM Business Development said.
Although these existing partnerships have only been low-key regional device launches with small manufacturers, Proulx has suggested that BBM pre-loads are about to become a mainstream feature.
“LG is the first global name we have partnered with,” Proulx said of the global BBM pre-load deal. He added: “You will see more such engagements in the future as that is a central tenant to make it simple for people to find their way into the BBM experience.”
Although failing to mention any specific brands by name, Proulx hinted that further high-profile manufacturers were on the verge of signing up to a BBM partnership, with the likes of Samsung and HTC likely to be two of BlackBerry’s biggest targets.
With the free-to-use BBM messaging service having been exclusive to BlackBerry branded handset owners until last year, day one downloads of the new BBM for Android and BBM for iOS exceeded the 10 million units milestone.
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