BlackBerry to open online application store, something Apple has for iPhone

MONTREAL - BlackBerry users will have their own online store for games, maps and entertainment, something competitor Apple already has for its iPhone, as Research In Motion (TSX:RIM) goes after more consumers.

RIM co-CEO Mike Lazaridus said Tuesday the consumer market for wireless data is taking off and it will launch its new online application store next March.

He told software developers there's a huge pool of customers worldwide for their applications.

"The opportunity is larger than ever from enterprise to consumer, " Lazaridus told the BlackBerry developers conference broadcast on the Internet.

"You could say enterprise and consumer because everyone of those enterprise customers is also a consumer," he said.

Apple launched its App Store last July, just in advance of the debut of its new and faster iPhone.

Analyst Nick Agostino said RIM wants to fully compete in the smartphone market and an online store for application software is part of that.

"So, if anything, they're trying to level the playing field with Apple within the smartphone market," said Agostino of Research Capital Corp. in Toronto.

"To allow someone to download those applications and customize their smartphone is going to be key to fully penetrate the smartphone market. I think that's one thing that RIM realizes it needs to do and to play catch up and levelling the playing field with Apple."

Smartphones allow users to check email, surf the web, send photos, listen to music and their operating systems allow them to run independent third-party applications such as games and stock trading platforms.

Recently, RIM has launched three new smartphones to appeal to both business users and consumers: the BlackBerry Flip screen, the high-speed BlackBerry Bold and the touchscreen BlackBerry Storm.

But as RIM moves deeper into the consumer world, the global economy is weak and stock markets have been volatile. Many companies have seen their shares sold and stock prices drop, including RIM.

Shares of the Waterloo,Ont.-based company have taken a tumble due to market turbulence, the company delivering a more cautious outlook for the current quarter and an analyst's report that said early sales of the new BlackBerry Flip phone were tepid.

"The month of November will be the make or break one," Agostino said, adding that consumers may delay purchases in order to see all three of the new BlackBerrys in store.

"There's no company in this world that's not going to feel some of the economic squeeze, not even funeral companies."

RBC Capital analyst Mike Abramsky said in a recent research note that with RIM's more cautious outlook and its push into the consumer market has raised investor uncertainty. He also noted the weakening economic environment also has increased RIM's risk for growth.

The BlackBerry is dominant among business users, who prize its secure email that comes directly into the smartphone without having download a program to get it.

Lazaridus noted the BlackBerry is in the consumer market with the benefit of that strong business background.

"That's the heritage that we enter this consumer market from," he told developers at the conference.

RIM said it's working with online payment service PayPal to allow consumers to pay for their applications - which could include such things as games, maps and stock trading platforms - from BlackBerry smartphones.

BlackBerry users now can buy games and entertainment on bplay.com

Lazaridus said RIM will continue to support other distributors that have been selling BlackBerry applications.

RIM also said the storefront will allow developers to set their own prices for applications and they'll be to keep 80 per cent of the revenue that comes from their applications.

It will launch a new application centre that will help carriers of the BlackBerry work with developers to make it easier for them to get applications bought by consumers.