BlackBerry Messenger Heads to Android and iOS

As its hardware sales keep falling, BlackBerry is loosening its grip on one of its most valuable services. The company announced on May 14 that this summer it will release iPhone- and Android-compatible versions of BlackBerry Messenger, a service that allows users to share instant messages and make voice calls to other BlackBerry owners through its wireless servers without extra charges. The service transmits more than 10 billion messages daily to its 60 million worldwide users. “It’s time to bring BBM to a greater audience, no matter what mobile device they carry,” Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins said at the annual BlackBerry Live conference in Orlando. He’s betting that widening the user base of the service will enhance its utility—and lead to more sales of the company’s smartphones.

Messenger’s free transmissions are a big selling point in emerging markets, especially in countries where Web and text plans are expensive. It’s also more secure than similar apps, encrypting user communications with PIN codes that users must share to communicate with each other. Because Messenger has until now only connected BlackBerrys to each other, it’s become less valuable as the company has bled customers. Offering it to hundreds of millions of Android and iPhone users could help, says Kevin Stadtler, president of Stadtler Capital Management and a BlackBerry investor. “They actually have a better shot of selling BlackBerry devices by giving away the BBM app than not,” Stadtler says.