BlackBerry Messenger for iPhone and Android cancelled?

It’s long been rumoured that BlackBerry Messenger will eventually be released for iOS and Android, but one analyst now believes that’s very unlikely. Jefferies’ Peter Misek predicts that RIM will abandon its plans to develop BBM apps for competitors’ devices in favour of “direct competition” with them.

RIM had also been developing enterprise support technology for Android and iOS phones, which would allow companies to monitor and control employees’ phones from a central console, and Misek, based on checks with his sources and an interview with recently-appointed CEO Thorsten Heins, believes work on this will slow down as he seeks to change the company’s short term strategy. Misek believes RIM will underperform this financial year, and has slashed his previous target on shares from $17 to $15.

BlackBerry Messenger, or BBM, popularised the concept of instant messaging on smartphones, but has since faced stiff competition from cross platform alternatives such as WhatsApp, as well as Apple’s equivalent for iOS devices, iMessage. BBM was also the focus of media attention during last summer’s riots, and blamed for allowing the easy co-ordination of looting.

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