Tech Sina has published what appears to be an interview by BlackBerry chief marketing officer Frank Boolean. He revealed that his company intends to increase investment in Chinese market. The Waterloo-based company will launch an unprecedented promotion of the BlackBerry 10 devices when there are release to the Chinese market.
Here is an translated version of the interview (via Tech Sina – Chinese):
Q: Why have fallen sharply over the past few years, the market share of BlackBerry?
A: In recent years, two major trends rise faster than we expected. A 4G network deployment, especially in the United States, but the same is true elsewhere. Second is the popularity of the full touch device, which has permeated almost globally. In view of these trends, coupled with our operating system, which has been available for 10 years, we are faced with two choices: either join the Android or Windows camp, or independently developed a new operating system. We chose the latter.
Q: In addition to the Z10 and Q10 due to release this year, What are your launch plans for these products?
A: In addition to the Z10 and Q10, at the end of the year, we will have 6 BlackBerry 10 devices, which will cover from high – low end market. The Z10 and Q10 will address the high-end market. We will also introduce devices with Keyboard.
The key is, whether you are an entry-user, the end user, or high-end users, you will get the same software experience, applications can use exactly the same. We currently have over 100,000 apps. We believe that is now on the right track.
[pullquote] We are also working with application developers to ensure the Blackberry 10 can provide an attractive experience for the Chinese market. [/pullquote]
Q: China is the world’s largest smart phone market, but the market share of the BlackBerry is very low here:
A: We are increasing investment in Chinese market, and a R & D team in China.We are also working with application developers to ensure the Blackberry 10 can provide an attractive experience for the Chinese market. When the BlackBerry 10 device comes to China, we will implement an unprecedented large-scale publicity promotion campaign. The time scale to expand in China with these promotional activities is yet to be determined.
Q: Samsung and Apple is still the leader of the global smartphone market.
A: Telecom operators want us to succeed, because they want a third ecosystem. There are iOS and Android, but the former is completely controlled by a company, while the other is open to a lot of companies, the market share, are basically a company led. Operators hope to have a candidate ecosystem, because they know that any one ecosystem may over time develop a very dominant position.
Q: Samsung and Apple spent a lot of marketing dollars. Are you prepare to do the same?
A: Our balance sheet position is healthy with no debt. We have $ 2.9 billion cash in hand, so we are interesting in investing in marketing. This quarter, compared with the previous quarter, we plan to increase spending on marketing to over 50%. At the same time, we also have a different operating system, when you have differences, you no longer need to compete alone marketing.
Q: The price of the entry field is very competitive. What strategy do you have?
A: Even in the entry field, we will not simply compete on price. Other companies are unable to provide BlackBerry 10 experience. With this difference, we firmly believe that in areas of high, medium and low, we will be able to compete.
Source: Tech Sina
