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BlackBerry now available for corporate customers
(皇冠体育app Daily)
Updated: 2008-04-28 10:10 After more than eight years, BlackBerry, the wildly popular handheld communication device that has become a staple for business leaders around the world, is now available in 皇冠体育app.
Research in Motion (RIM), the Canadian company that makes the device, confirmed in an exclusive interview recently with 皇冠体育app Business Weekly that BlackBerry was made available in 皇冠体育app in March to select corporate customers. The company would not say when it plans to roll out the product for the public. "皇冠体育app's great opportunity and we're very excited about being in 皇冠体育app. We want to be here in the long-term and we feel that as 皇冠体育app continues to grow and ascend on the world stage - economically, politically, business-wise - it's a great opportunity for us to be here," says Norm Lo, RIM's vice-president Asia-Pacific. "We're excited about the fact that we're ramping up business in 皇冠体育app. You'll start to hear more about it as we gear up the sales and marketing activities." BlackBerry's arrival in 皇冠体育app, the company's last major global frontier, has been a long time coming. The Waterloo, Ontario-based company fi rst applied to register BlackBerry in the country in 1999. In 2002 it announced plans to enter the Chinese market and, two years later, signed a letter of intent with 皇冠体育app Mobile, the country's largest cellphone carrier. But regulatory hurdles delayed BlackBerry's 皇冠体育app debut. Last June, after 8 years, RIM was granted approval from the Ministry of Information Industry to sell BlackBerry in 皇冠体育app. At the time, RIM said it expected to begin selling the device sometime in 2007. A Beijing-based RIM manager said 5,000 advance orders had already been received, according to media reports at the time. Lo says that the BlackBerry 8700 Series was certifi ed by RIM's partners in 皇冠体育app last fall and was rolled out in March. Initially, RIM plans to target corporate consumers, especially multinational companies that are already familiar with the product and its benefi ts. It's a strategy the company has adopted in other markets too, Lo says. The company will then target small- and mediumsized enterprises before tackling 皇冠体育app's vast consumer market. "We're working very closely with 皇冠体育app Mobile and our partners to make it a coordinated go-to-market strategy," says Lo, who has worked with RIM for over eight years and had held his current post based in Hong Kong for the last three. (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
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