BBM To Come Preinstalled On LG Smartphones

BlackBerry is keeping the hope alive with a partnership with LG. Announced today, the LG G Pro Lite will ship with BBM already installed on the smartphone.

This comes two months after BBM’s Android and iOS launch. It quickly found footing, and following its launch, raked in 10M downloads in a day. BBM is still a small player in the messaging app game, but there’s no questioning that consumers have latched onto the platform.

We all know the broad strokes: Research In Motion-turned BlackBerry is quickly dying. Its last-ditch effort in consumer hardware failed to revive the storied smartphone brand. But the company is still alive, albeit on life support. BlackBerry Ltd also announced today the hiring of former SAP mobile boss John Sims to lead its global enterprise business.

This partnership with LG shows there could be a future for BlackBerry that doesn’t involve a bankruptcy court. The Canada-based company will never regain its share of the smartphone market, but there’s plenty of money to be made in enterprise infrastructure and global communication.

BlackBerry announces its latest quarterly earnings on Friday. It should be a bloodbath.

WATERLOO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – Dec 18, 2013) – BBM™ will soon come preinstalled on the LG G Pro Lite from LG Electronics Inc. in markets around the world. BlackBerry® (BBRY)(BB.TO) today announced a bundling agreement with LG Electronics involving both standard and virtual preloading (using the LG App Manager) and confirmed that BBM will also continue to be available as a free download from Android app stores, including Google Play™.

“BBM is widely used throughout the Middle East, Africa and Indonesia where smartphone users tend to engage heavily in social networking,” said Kevin Shin, Vice President of Marketing for Asia, the Middle East and CIS countries of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “The LG G Pro Lite offers an optimized BBM experience with its large, high quality display and embedded Stylus Pen.”

“People across the globe are using BBM to connect with each other and the enthusiasm has been phenomenal,” said Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President for BBM at BlackBerry. “We’re extremely pleased that LG Electronics will help bring their customers a more seamless experience with BBM by preloading the app, starting with the G Pro Lite in key markets.”

BBM is a premier mobile communication service that gives customers privacy, control and immediacy as they chat with their contacts – either one-to-one, in multiple chats or as part of a BBM Group. BBM’s Delivered and Read statuses, as well as message-in-progress notices, keep people engaged and active in their conversations.

BBM lets users share files such as photos and voice notes, as well as update their profile and status with ease. Up to 30 people can connect as a BBM Group to chat and share photos, calendars and other files or documents.

Every BBM user has a unique PIN tied to their BlackBerry ID that helps maintains their privacy. Users never have to give out their phone number or email address to begin chatting with a new or casual contact.

The BBM experience will continue to evolve for Android and iPhone® users in the coming months, with updates that will include support for BBM Channels, a new service that connects BBM users to communities of shared interests in a very engaging and intimate manner, as well as support for BBM Voice calling and BBM Video calling.