Editor’s Note: Related tickers: BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)
Doubts cast over developer interest in BlackBerry as lone developer accounts for a third of all apps (DNAIndia)
what could be the latest in a series of reality checks for BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY), a report has emerged claiming that just one app developer accounts for a third of all apps on the company’s app store. A quick search for S4BB on BlackBerry World reveals that the developer has over 48,000 apps. This was first spotted by BerryReview. BlackBerry had in May announced that its App World had over 120,000 apps and cited growing developer interest in the platform as the key for the impressive numbers. However, it seems that just one developer was responsible for over a third of all apps on the store, casting serious doubts about the actual developer interest in the platform.
BlackBerry headed for breakup, analysts say (TheRecord)
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY)’s withering smartphone business means potential acquirers will pick over its more alluring assets, including software and patents, which together may be worth about $5 billion, roughly in line with the company’s current market value. The phone unit, BlackBerry’s biggest source of revenue, is essentially worthless because most buyers would shut it down in favor of their own technology, at a cost of as much as $800 million, said analysts at Raymond James Ltd. and BMO Capital Markets. Its patents, software and a secure network are each worth more than $1 billion, the analysts said, and the company has about $2.8 billion in cash.
Porsche Design P9982 not exciting enough (PhonesReview)
BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) seems to have really stalled lately in its bid to rejuvenate the company, and things don’t look as though they will improve soon going by leaks on upcoming devices. Some leaked images of the Porsche Design 9982 have just emerged, and it looks like a rather uninspired reshaped BlackBerry Z10. There’s no doubt that BlackBerry is facing tough times at the moment, with its BBM service deemed as one of its only remaining assets. Previously it was hoped that the new BB10 OS would revive the company, but the OS and phones like the recently released BlackBerry Q5 that was aimed at the mass market, haven’t managed to turn around BlackBerry’s fortunes.
Kik Messenger Surpasses BlackBerry Messenger Registered User Count With 80 Million Users (TruTower)
Kik Interactive, Inc.’s messaging application is no longer the small startup it once was. Since its initial release on October 19, 2010, the app has grown very quickly. Kik Messenger had over one million registered users in only 15 days, and this number rose substantially through 2012. By April of that year, the app had surpassed ten million users, hitting 30 million by November 29 of that year, and finally surpassing 50 million by April of this year. Now Kik has reached a whole new milestone, one that sees it even moving past BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) Messenger, which will be headed cross-platform soon. This new milestone puts Kik at 80 million users worldwide (81.1 million to be exact) who send roughly 4.5 billion messages weekly. BBM by comparison has 60 million users.
