TORONTO - It may seem like BlackBerrys are everywhere, but Research In Motion (TSX:RIM) is beginning a new push to sell even more of the wireless e-mail devices to small and medium-sized businesses.
"That's been a very untapped market. The BlackBerry has a nice penetration in there but it's in rather specialized circumstances," RIM co-chief executive Jim Balsillie said in an interview.
He said the Waterloo, Ont.-based company is launching a streamlined version of the type of server software that large organizations use to manage their BlackBerry wireless e-mail traffic.
Besides e-mail, the software enables BlackBerry handset users to access their calendar, contacts, notes and task functions on their company's server through secure wireless Internet communications.
Unlike the full-feature BlackBerry Enterprise Server software, however, the new product is designed to be easily installed on a company's existing e-mail server by a non-technical person.
"You literally don't need IT support to install this. And this is very, very important for a small business because they don't have those resources in-house," Balsillie said ahead of the official launch Monday.
RIM has been the acknowledged world leader in wireless e-mail products for large organizations for several years, but with a small subscriber base compared with cellphones..
Last year, RIM broke new ground with the more consumer-oriented Pearl smartphone - with more multimedia features like cameras and MP3 audio players but without the full QWERTY keyboards that made the original BlackBerrys so distinctive.
Balsillie said he hesitates to compare the new software package with the launch of the highly successful Pearl but added "in terms of driving new addressable markets, it's definitely in the same category."
The new BlackBerry Professional Software has a list price of $499 for five users and $849 for 10 users ($100 and $85 per user, respectively) and either package can be expanded to support up to 30 wireless users with the purchase of additional licences.
Last month, Rogers Wireless - Canada's largest cellphone company and a long-standing retailer of RIM products - announced it was making a big push to promote wireless e-mail devices by several manufacturers that run the Windows Mobile operating system.
At the time, spokesmen for both Rogers Wireless and Microsoft Canada denied the Windows Mobile products would directly compete with the BlackBerry since they were aimed at smaller companies.
However, Rogers Wireless vice-president John Boynton did say the Windows Mobile products on offer would be priced "at or slightly below" prices for RIM's lineup with "fairly identical" service plans.
Balsillie said in the interview that he didn't consider the Windows Mobile products to be a significant threat to the BlackBerry's market position.
