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RIM offers free premium apps in move to appease customers
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The Globe and Mail- Research In Motion Ltd. (RIM-T24.260.140.58%) is offering customers a selection of premium mobile applications free of charge as an attempt to save face after an embarrassing global service outage annoyed and enraged BlackBerry users around the world.
After a server failure halted data for millions of users last week cause, RIM co-CEO Mike Laziridis appeared in a video, apologizing to the Waterloo, Ont.-based company’s customers – many of whom are corporate users who rely on BlackBerry devices for security and efficiency.
The service outage was one of the worst in the company’s history, and could not have come at a worse time: RIM is attempting to claw back enormous market share losses to Apple Inc.’s iPhone and a slew of devices running Google Inc.’s Android operating system, and much of RIM’s remaining appeal has to do with its reliability.
The free mobile apps, the company said, “will be offered free of charge to subscribers as an expression of appreciation for their patience during the recent service disruptions.”
They will begin to be available in the coming weeks and the offer lasts until Dec. 31. It includes a couple of translation apps, as well as one for a virtual assistant. Enterprise customers, meanwhile, are being offered a month of free technical support.
“Our global network supports the communications needs of more than 70 million customers,” Mr. Lazaridis said in a statement on Monday, as the company prepares to kick off an application developer conference in San Francisco.
“We truly appreciate and value our relationship with our customers. We’ve worked hard to earn their trust over the past 12 years, and we’re committed to providing the high standard of reliability they expect, today and in the future.”
RIM, of course, has been flailing lately against its competitors, garnering negative headlines and reviews from its comparatively weak selection of apps to the launch of its PlayBook tablet computer, which many thought was rushed to market prematurely.
RIM’s shares have lost around half their value in the past year, and recently rumours of activist shareholders and a possible shakeup have dogged the company, which was a shining example of home-grown innovation in post-Nortel Canada.
But the company remains strong in international and emerging markets, and is hoping to orchestrate a turnaround with a new operating system, QNX, and a new lineup of more powerful smart phones. The company is also offering Android apps on its new models.
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