With early 2013 launch, RIM wants BlackBerry 10 smartphone to become super hit in India

Telecom Lead India: Research In Motion (RIM) is betting big on BlackBerry 10 devices in India. The new smartphone is expected to be available in early 2013.

Sunil Lalvani, director, Enterprise sales, India, Research In Motion

It can become a hit in the country as usually top smartphone makers do not launch their new products in the first quarter of the year. Plus, RIM is making extra efforts to launch their best smartphone product on the best operating system in the world – that will target both enterprises and retail users.

In India, despite huge campaigns to promote BlackBerry phones among youths, RIM still generates larger revenue from enterprises.

Sunil Lalvani, director, Enterprise sales, India, Research In Motion, said BlackBerry 10 device has the potential to become best phone for Indian enterprises.

RIM has several reasons to cheer ahead of the launch of the new platform.

According to a recent report in TelecomLead.com, Nokia is out of the top 5 smartphone vendor list. Samsung, Apple, Research In Motion, ZTE and HTC are the top 5 smartphone makers in Q3 2012.

IDC said the global mobile phone market grew 2.4 percent in third quarter of 2012 (3Q12). Phone vendors shipped 444.5 million mobile phones in 3Q12 compared to 434.1 million units in the third quarter of 2011.

Another major factor that will become handy for the smartphone maker is the US government’s security clearance for its platform for BlackBerry 10 devices.

BlackBerry 10 platform has received the FIPS 140-2 certification, which will allow government agencies to deploy the devices, along with the new enterprise management platform to run the devices, as soon as the new smartphones are launched.

Recently, RIM said it had begun carrier tests on the new line of devices.

FIPS certification, which is given by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, is one of the minimum criteria that is required for products used by US government agencies and regulated industries that collect, store, transfer, share and disseminate sensitive information.

The stamp of approval gives confidence to security-conscious organizations – including some of RIM’s top clients like US and Canadian government agencies – that the data stored on smartphones running BlackBerry 10 can be properly secured and encrypted.

Meanwhile, RIM is witnessing a significant spurt in India sales ahead of the launch of its new operating system BlackBerry 10.

Interestingly, RIM is one of the few phone companies in India which did not announce any significant discounts to its smartphones during the ongoing festival season.

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