For Indonesians, smartphones are less about gaming apps or streaming music and more about chatting, in all of its forms.
Residents of the 247 million population Asian country spend most of their device time connecting with others, according to a recent study from research firm Nielsen and reported in The Jakarta Post.
Indonesian crowds during the BlackBerry Z3 launch last month.
Moreover, a whopping 80% of that activity is happening via BlackBerry Messenger, according to Nielsen. Some of that can be attributed to the fact that 48% of Indonesians owned BlackBerry phones, according to Nielsen (34% say BlackBerry is their favorite brand). But much of that BBMing is no doubt happening on iOS and Android phones, too.
In Indonesia, more time is spent on chatting than browsing the internet and other entertainment features. Those must be some awesome conversations! (Of course, BlackBerry-owning Indonesians can still get their games and music on, as BlackBerry 10 runs Android apps.)
Indonesia is in the middle of a love-fest with smartphones in general, with the Indonesian Internet Service Providers Association forecasting 125 million mobile phone user accounts by 2017.
That love led to the Indonesia Cellular Award (ICA) 2014 for BBM in the category ‘Best Mobile Chat App’. The respected award was received at the Indonesia Cellular Show 2014 in Jakarta earlier this month.
And you know what?
BlackBerry is returning the love.
Hello, Z3!
That’s why we launched the BlackBerry Z3 there in May, tailored to the needs (and budgets) of emerging markets.
Z3 sales, as well as reviews, are pretty good:
“[The BlackBerry Z3] embodies all that BlackBerry 10 offers, with its exceptional productivity features and reliable communications, in a stylish, all-touch design made affordable for customers in Indonesia.”
– Economic Times
“BlackBerry’s new low-cost smartphone, the Z3, has received a solid response. The device was sold out soon after pre-orders started in the Indonesian market. This indicates that the phone should sell in good numbers in the emerging markets.”
– The Motley Fool
Users seem to appreciate the Z3’s 5-inch touchscreen, 1.2GHz dual-core Qualcomm processor, capacitive touchscreen, and a bevy of other features:
- BlackBerry Hub- a central spot to access all your work and personal email, BBM text messages, social media updates and notifications;
- BBM- customized for Indonesians;
- BlackBerry Keyboard- learns what words you use and how you use them so you can type faster and more accurately;
- Time Shift and Story Maker, lets you capture a group shot where everyone is smiling with their eyes wide open. You can also use Story Maker to bring a collection of photos and videos together, along with music and effects, to produce an HD movie that you can instantly share on YouTube;
- BlackBerry 10 Browser- sets the industry benchmark for HTML5 performance on smartphones, and is incredibly fast, with fluid and responsive scrolling and zooming;
- Instant Previews and Reply Now- brings BBM, SMS and email message to you no matter what you are doing on your BlackBerry Z3 smartphone;
- Fast, Easy Sharing- helping you reduce the number of steps and amount of time it takes to get your files, photos, or documents to where they need to go by learning how you share and who you share it with, and
- FM Radio- you can listen to local FM stations, which does not require any network connection.
Not bad, by any means.
Wait, one more thing!
Customers around the globe are wondering when the Z3 will be coming to their countries.
While I’m not privy to the exact dates, I can tell you that this affordable, powerful phone will be coming to a series of countries very, very soon.
Check back regularly with Inside BlackBerry blogs to get the latest updates, or follow us on Twitter or Facebook.
