It’s no more news that BlackBerry is the most used Smartphone in Nigeria as they have 2 million out of 4 million Smartphones. And it has been a question and concern why their physical presence has not been established to control their market opportunity in Nigeria, but RIM said worries no more as they put up a press conference in Lagos, Nigeria on September 25, 2012 to launch their Nigeria’s office.
From the Horse’s Note:
Research In Motion (RIM) the maker of BlackBerry Smartphones today expanded its presence in Nigeria, and announced the first official BlackBerry-branded retail store in Lagos. The move marks the expansion of RIM’s footprint in Africa from its headquarters in Johannesburg, South Africa, and underlines the company’s commitment to its partners and customers in one of the world’s fastest growing mobile markets.
“As the leading smartphone provider in Nigeria and in Africa overall, our customers are our number one priority, so we are very pleased to cement our physical presence with local staff, establish a new legal entity and work with local business partners to expand our retails and customer care across Nigeria.” said Robert Bose, Regional Manager Director for the Middle East and Africa.
RIM, in association with mobile phone distributor Slot Nigeria, Officially opened the Blackberry by SLOT store in Nigeria at Computer Village in Ikeja, Lagos on Monday, designed especially to provide Nigerian customers with a first-class, authentic BlackBerry purchasing experience, including free software upgrades from the facility in the facility in the Computer Village store. BlackBerry smartphones that can be upgraded to OS 7.1 include the BlackBerry Bold 9900, BlackBerry Torch 9810, BlackBerry Torch 9860, BlackBerry Curve 9360 and the BlackBerry Curve 9380.
In the BlackBerry by SLOT store, customers can find:
- A full-range of live BlackBerry smartphones to try
- Free device set-up and free software upgrade facilities
- Fully-trained staff who provide expert advice and assistance
- A BlackBerry Expert Center that offers leading after-sales services (all products sold in the store come with a 12-month warranty)
Commenting on the store opening Robert Bose added, “Today, BlackBerry is sold in about 300 retail presences and after sales service that will provide our Nigerian customers with the optimal BlackBerry experience. With our new regional entity, we are looking forward to further cementing our relationship with the Nigerian market and working with our partners to support both our customer base and the transformation of the ICT industry in West Africa.”
Robert also points out their interest in Nigeria market to get local contents by working close with Nigeria’s developers which Nigeria Constitution by Pledge 51 was a very good example they sighted. Although many questions was dodged by Robert especially when it comes to their rate of loosing market and stats of their product sales.
I was so excited when I saw OTEKBITS’s logo on BlackBerry’s screenshot in Robert’s presentation. So you can now get the OTEKBITS app on BlackBerry App World.
[image via Jesse Oguns]
