BBM for iOS and Android experienced multiple delays, not launching until late September 2013, and many felt it was too little too late.
Today, BlackBerry proved everybody wrong by announcing that BBM now has 85 million monthly active users.
The messaging app also has 113 million registered users who have created around 500,000 Channels, more than doubling the figure in the past four months alone.
On average, users read 11.5 posts per day in Channels, and BlackBerry CEO John Chen says the company has a “very solid” monetization plan.
Part of that plan is mobile payments, which Chen hints is further down the line.
“BBM Channels is drawing some strong interest from brands and business. We add a lot of new Channels daily. Recent partners include CNBC, Time, Rolling Stone and Virgin Atlantic… This number is growing very fast.”
BBM has yet to land on Windows Phone, but Chen says it should arrive in the second quarter, and will also come pre-installed on select Nokia Lumia smartphones.
The struggling smartphone maker has not forgot about its core demographic, and last month announced eBBM Suite, an enterprise-level messaging service.
“We are introducing customers to BBM Protect in the public sector, the financial services, most of the regulated, security-conscious verticals. We have already got really high interest level from those.”
Does BBM have a special place on your smartphone?
Photo credit: BlackBerry
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