BlackBerry In Indonesia: The Raising Storm

Kevin Michaluk of crackberry, raised an issue of the leaping numbers of BlackBerry users in Indonesia. Other source confirmed this by reporting that the growth reached 500% last year, and still growing.
It's no surprise for me, being an Indonesian and all, because in fact the BlackBerry's growth in Indonesian market is also the one reason behind my creating this blog.
Analyzing it a little, there are at least three major factors behind the not-just-steady-but-rapid-growth of BlackBerry Storm 9000, BlackBerry Curve 8900 and all of its variant in Indonesia, which mean the boost-up BlackBerry accesories sales as well. And Kevin, you might want to read this.
First is that RIM's BlackBerry has a great prestige among Indonesian. Forget about iPhone, BlackBerry is what YOU want if you are Indonesian. It still amazed me how the power of prestige can drive such frenzy. Indonesian BlackBerry users are not divided to social class nor their occupance. Here you can see politicians clumsily clutch their brand new BlackBerry Storm, soap-opera stars exchanging e-mail or simply text messages among each others with their BlackBerry Curve and grunge-looking college boys and chic college girls flashing around their shocking color-clad BlackBerry Bold.
The second is the fact that the available BlackBerry handsets are affordable since most of them come from black market. "80% of BlackBerry customers who use our service, didn't buy the handsets from us" said an Indosat spokeperson.
Indosat is one of official carriers for BlackBerry for Indonesia, the other are XL and Telkomsel. This can create a tight competition in the future, but right now the three carriers should be happy enough to survive only on their service and after-sales, since there no competiting the price of the black market BlackBerry handsets. The third factors, and the most ridiculous one I might add, maybe is the well-spread information that Barrack Obama uses BlackBerry. As we know, Mr. Obama used to live in Indonesia, and there's no asking about his popularity here during the Presidential Vote in US. Every Indonesian, who don't hold any grudge against US that is, wanted Obama to win and he did. If to once shared the same country with the President of USA is not enough for you, the next thing you could do is to have the same gadget.
How should RIM react to the amazing growth? Detiknet reported that the three vendors (Indosat, XL, Telkomsel) have already ask RIM, during the 2009 Wireless Enterprise Symposium, to either establish a representative office or providing after sale service center to anticipate the bloated BlackBerry market in Indonesia. FYI, RIM do not have any representative office in Indonesia.
So, what are you waiting for RIM? We talk about a huge market here. If you can't provide this gadget-craving people satisfying services, you might channel their big-spending-on-gadget tendency to other brand, and that will be the last "Storm" you wanted to exist.

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On The Store: AT&T's BlackBerry Curve 8900

In my last post on this subject, I quote blackberrynews on their prediction as to the launching date of BlackBerry Curve 8900 with AT&T. The slim BlackBerry did hit the store in 21th May as they predicted. Now, almost a full week after the launching, of course we are curious about how good BlackBerry Curve 8900 in the market. The NPD hasn't yet release the report, whether it outsold Apple iPhone again or whether the selling performance is as good as the hype it generates among BlackBerry fans.
It seems that for At&T, the BlackBerry Curve 8900, also known as Javelin, is only a preliminary effort to test the market, as it is also reported that future BlackBerries, namely BlackBerry Onyx, Gemini, Pearl 3G and BlackBerry Magnum are ready (very likely) to seal the deal with AT&T.
While the name of the mentioned Blackberry handsets are subject to change (I prefer my OWN proposed BlackBerry names), the specifications are as surely as follow. Now, that indeed something worth to wait from both RIM and AT&T.

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BlackBerry Curve 8900 Javelin and AT&T: The Most Anticipated Union

I’ve been told by a reliable source we should see the BlackBerry 8900 Curve2 (Javelin) released on AT&T on Thursday, May 21. Earlier, the word was June or July.

I quote that from "AT&T set to launch the 8900 Javelin on May 21", an article in blackberrynews. Unquestionably, my post here is the follow-through of my post a while back ago. After an hour of googling, I found that although the joint-forces is much anticipated--regarding the pro-longed delay from both RIM and AT&T, the hype they both imbue or lack thereof--people's opinion is still concerned about whether it will be a 3G or the over-used EDGE.
Some of the comments I found in crackberry toward the issue are simply hilarious. Those who commented there seems like didn't care even if the union never happen at all. What makes the union so hype in the first place then? Well, in my opinion it maybe solely based on the fact that AT&T Wireless Network or simply AT&T, is still the sole provider for Apple's 3G iPhone, the infamous RIM's BlackBerry competitor, and vice versa. So, if indeed the new BlackBerry Curve 8900 will only be an EDGE-based smartphone, what's with the so much fuss? I guess for both RIM and AT&T the answer will be the same. "If by delaying you can create a whole new market, why not? It's business." Yeah, and business is good.
PS: Don't forget to check it out, 21st May, IS tomorrow (today, in my case).
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Joint Forces: BlackBerry Curve 8900 + AT&T

After become the top sale in the first trimester of 2009, BlackBerry Curve 8900, the newest breed of BlackBerry Curve Smartphone by RIM, will join forces with AT&T the following summer. According to ChannelWeb,

AT&T said that users who select an unlimited data plan for the BlackBerry Curve 8900 will also receive AT&T Wi-Fi access at nearly 20,000 U.S. hotspots, such as retail stores, restaurants and airports.

That is to say, that this is another kind of "buy one get more" sales strategy which, predictably, will make BlackBerry Curve 8900 still on the top for another trimester.
AT&T as we know is the sole provider for Apple iPhone. So, is there something more behind this joint-forces act? I can't tell. Although none of both AT&T and RIM announce the exact date, yet, the rumor has it that it will be on the following summer.
BlackBerry Curve 8900 not only features a full QWERTY keypad, but also a high-resolution 480 by 360 screen, 3.2-megapixel camera with auto-focus and image stabilization and premium phone features among other features. So, let's hope that the combination of AT&T and BlackBerry Curve 8900 will create a powerful gadget which we're all will be happy to flash around.

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