08-Dec-2011 18:13

Hate your BlackBerry? You’re in Good Company…

Hate your BlackBerry? You’re in Good Company…

It seems that if you’re considering getting rid of your BlackBerry, you are certainly not alone.

According to a new report from an America-based research firm Enterprise Management Associates, as many as 60% of users at small companies plan to swop their BlackBerry phone over the next year for another platform such as Apple's iPhone or Google's Android.

…and about 30% of users at larger SMEs are expected to make the change too.

"If you look at the level of adoption of Android and iPhones, devices that didn't exist a few years ago, that shows that this trend [of declining use of BlackBerry phones for business] is accelerating now," says EMA managing research director Steve Brasen.

The report shows 52% of users at companies employing over 10,000 workers, primarily use a BlackBerry for work, while only 36% said they plan to continue using a BlackBerry by end 2012.

The report also says only 16% of users are "completely satisfied" with their BlackBerry phones, compared to 44% for the iPhone and 34% for Android.

In October, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion experienced a massive service outage that affected millions of users in the U.S., Europe, the Middle East, Africa, India, Brazil, Chile and Argentina.
RIM said the blackout was caused by a "core switch failure" that generated a backlog of messages.

Meanwhile, EMA's report says small businesses are primarily supported by Android and iPhone devices and over the next 12 months, 50% of small business smartphone users say they expect to use the Android platform, while 29% plan to use an iPhone.

Which is your smartphone of choice?