Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) held its BlackBerry DevCon conference in Amsterdam this week and used the occasion to tout BlackBerry App World, the mobile-application marketplace designed to compete with Google’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android Market and Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) App Store. The company has increased focus on its application offerings to coincide with launches of RIM’s updated PlayBook tablets later this month and the BlackBerry 10 operating system, coming in the fall.
RIM’s app market, called BlackBerry App World, launched in 2009 but never received the same level of attention as app offerings by its competitors. App World currently stocks 60,000 applications, whereas Android Market offers more than 370,000, and Apple’s App Store 550,000. RIM has made recent attempts to encourage Android developers to convert existing Android applications for use on BlackBerry devices. The company provided BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps, a conversion-assistance platform, and has offered free PlayBook tablets to developers who submit completed applications before Feb. 13.
Thorsten Heins, making his first major appearance since becoming RIM’s new CEO, used the DevCon conference to highlight the moneymaking opportunities that await developers in the BlackBerry market. Haines claimed that 13% of applications for the BlackBerry earn their developers over $100,000. BlackBerry App World supposedly pays 40% better than its Android competitor. Download metrics provided listed 6 million daily, 150 million monthly and 2 billion since App World’s inception. That’s better than many would’ve guessed but still a far cry from competitor metrics. The Apple App Store alone has achieved 10 billion downloads since its launch in summer 2008.
Trying to rebuild customer confidence
Developers hoping to make the jump to BlackBerry are required to remove any Android mentions or links to applications in Android Market, and must apply for a code-signing key, which is the programming equivalent of a stamp of approval. The required signing is likely a way to help BlackBerry App World avoid the quality problems that have reportedly plagued Android Market. AppBrain, a website designed to help Android users browse for apps in Android Market, estimates that 31% of Android apps are “low quality.” Google also was recently compelled to weed out malicious applications.
Apps that were approved before Feb. 6 will launch as part of the updated PlayBook tablets launching later this month. It may seem an odd move, considering that the earlier version of PlayBook has done abysmally since its launch last year, but it does provide an opportunity for RIM to grow the marketplace prior to the BlackBerry 10 release.
RIM has pulled up slightly from its 2011 tailspin. Stock analysts Trefis noted that the company’s share-price decline between November and December was at least more modest than the 16.6% loss bridging the previous two months. Trefis has RIM’s price target set at $16.50, a penny higher than Wednesday’s closing price. That represents a more than 76% drop from the company’s 52-week high of $70.54.
BlackBerry’s push for Android app inclusion also underscores the importance of the BlackBerry 10 operating system. Consumer confidence has dropped due to the PlayBook quality issues and operating system launch delays. And government agencies are developing secure alternatives to RIM’s platform. The company’s wobbly path has made the launch of BlackBerry 10 watched as closely as a Hail Mary pass.
