The iconic BlackBerry Messenger, BBM, will be discontinued on May 31, 2019, at least its consumer-oriented version. To replace the service, BlackBerry announced that all BBM users will be able to migrate to the corporate-focused BBM Enterprise (BBM) with a one-year free license. After this period, users can maintain BBMe with a US$2,50 subscription package (every six months).
Since 2016, Emtek company has been in charge of BBM in the consumer market, and has expanded the functionality of the messaging service, but has not been able to keep up with its main competitors, such as Telegram and Whatsapp, and decided to end activities.
“We are very proud of everything we have built to this day. The technology industry, however, is very fluid, and despite all our efforts, users have migrated to other platforms while we can not attract new users “- Emtek
BBM was launched in 2005 as a pioneer in the over-the-top (OTT) encrypted chat messaging service, but due to strategic shortcomings and the limitation on the BlackBerry platform alone for several years, BBM ended up falling into disuse for not following the progressive changes in the form of communication through mobile devices and the demands of its users.
Despite this sad news, this is not the EOL for BBM, since BBMe (BlackBerry Enterprise) remains in operation, controlled by BlackBerry itself. BBM is in fact returning to its roots, aimed at the corporate market, an exclusive niche in the market with high demand for secure mobile services.
Source: SapohaGeek
