Smartphone news: RIM gains 1m in Europe, while Nokia's N9 gets limited release

For RIM, it's swings and roundabouts: after our analysis showing that RIM lost 1m BlackBerry users in the US in the past three months, the company has announced that it has gained 1m users in Europe in just the past three weeks.

Which led to the follwing:
Patrick Spence, Managing Director, EMEA, Research In Motion, said: "Thank you to the over one million new customers who have joined the BlackBerry community across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa in the last three weeks alone. We're excited by the continued momentum we're experiencing across EMEA, and are appreciative of the amazing efforts of our application developer partners, our operator partners, our retail partners, and our distributor partners who have helped us make this happen."

(Distributor partners = carriers, mostly.)

"BlackBerry continues to be the number one smartphone brand in a number of our markets, including the Netherlands, South Africa and the UK - where we also remain the number one smartphone vendor by total unit sales, and the number one prepay smartphone vendor. Our smartphones including the BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Curve also top the sales lists in countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia and we recently announced RIM's international revenue for the first quarter had grown 67% year on year."

That's true. We don't know anything about how international profits went, though; worldwide, profits were down 9.6% in the most recent quarter.

What's also not clear is how the prices on those phones are going. The average selling price for RIM phones, according to its results, dipped below $300 in the past quarter; it's still getting squeezed. But clearly, it's pricing to expand users, and that is definitely succeeding. There's a special attraction in the Middle East, where BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) lets people of the opposite sex communicate without having to do it face-to-face: BBM and BlackBerries are hugely popular in those countries for that reason apart from plenty of others. That's part of why Apple is introducing its own version in iOS5.

Meanwhile, some interesting news from Nokia. You'll recall that it showed off the N9, which is going to be its only MeeGo phone.

So, where will you be able to get an N9? Horace Dediu of Asymco, who notes:

Countries where the Nokia N9 will not be launched: UK, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Canada and the US.

And:

The first Nokia WP7 [Windows Phone] device will be launched in UK, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, all excluded from the Nokia N9 launch.

Which initially implies that the US, Norway and Belgium won't be getting either device to begin with.

The fact of the overlap (or non-overlap) carries an interesting question: will the first Nokia Windows Phone actually use the N9's body? It's a good-looking phone - and with the slightly refreshed Nokia under Stephen Elop, perhaps a spirit of economy will prevail.

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Smartphone News: RIM WINS 1 m in Europe, while Nokia N9 gets limited release

It is for RIM, swings and roundabouts: according to our analysis show that RIM BlackBerry users in the United States lost 1 m in the last three months, the company announced that it has won 1M-Anwender in Europe in the past three weeks.

Led to the following:

Patrick Spence, Managing Director, EMEA, research in motion, said: "Thank you, more than 1 million new customers, that municipality merged the BlackBerry over Europe, Middle East and Africa in the last three weeks alone." "We are thrilled by continued growth, we are experiencing in EMEA, the, making development partners, are grateful for the amazing efforts of our application our operator partners, our partners in the retail sector, and our distribution partners who have helped us this is done."
(Distribution partners airlines, especially =.)

"BlackBerry continues to be the number one Smartphone brand in some of our markets, including Netherlands, South Africa and the UK - where we are the number one Smartphone manufacturer of total sales, and the number of one prepay phone provider." "Our smartphones including the BlackBerry bold and BlackBerry Curve also top sales lists in countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia, and we recently announced that RIM foreign sales had grown 67% year over year for the first quarter."

This is true. We do not know anything like international gains, but was transferred; Profits increased 9.6% have been around the world in the last quarter.

Also, it is not clear how the prices on these phones go. The average selling price for RIM phones according to their results dipped below $300 in the last quarter; It is still pressed to get. But clearly it is pricing to extend user and succeed in any case, the. It is a special attraction in the Middle East, where BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) communicate persons of the opposite sex without it can face to face: BBM and blackberries are very popular in these countries therefore in addition to many others. This is part of why Apple introduces its own version in iOS5.

In the meantime some interesting news from Nokia. You will remember that it showed the N9, will be his only MeeGo phone.

So, where are you can get a N9? Horace Dediu of Asymco, who notes:

Countries where the Nokia N9 not started: UK, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, Canada and the United States.

And:

The first Nokia raising [Windows phone] device will run all of the Nokia N9 start excluded in UK, Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.

Which means first of all, that device is the United States, Norway and Belgium not always either from the outset.

The fact of the overlap (or non-overlapping) is an interesting question: the first Windows Mobile phone from Nokia is really use the N9 body? It's a nice looking phone - and with the slightly updated Nokia under Stephen Elop, perhaps a business spirit will prevail.

View the original article here