R

esearch in Motion (RIM) aims to expand its presence in the lower-end market segment with the launch of the new BlackBerry Curve 9220 in Jakarta on Tuesday, offering simplicity of use and more affordable pricing than previously released smartphones by the Canada-based company.

RIM Indonesia director of marketing Eka Anwar said the phone maker was targeting a specific group of people who are beginning to shift from using feature phones to smartphones. That particular market segment, Eka said, included the younger generation.

“Most of the consumers of smartphones in Indonesia are aged between 20 to 24 years old and there are approximately 5.5 million young people in Jakarta. That is why we are targeting the youth with our latest product,” he said.

Blackberry Curve 9220 is priced at Rp 1.9 million (US$207.1) with key features such as a dedicated Blackberry Messenger (BBM) key that will ease user access to chat and also an FM radio.

RIM launched the Blackberry Curve 8520 (Gemini) in 2009, which has almost similar features with the new Curve, such as 2G networks and a 2 MP camera, which were not as refined as the features in the Blackberry Torch and Bold, which targeted the upper market with the faster 3G networks and a 5 MP camera.

According to Ardo, Blackberry Gemini, which is priced at Rp 1.8 million — the cheapest type of Blackberry that is sold in Indonesia — led the market share from the total sales of Blackberry in Indonesia in 2011.

Despite the leading market share and the growing interest coming from all segments of smartphone users, especially the low-end market, Eka said that RIM still had no plans to invest in factories or open a data center in Indonesia.

“We will add 4,000 new points-of-presence of Blackberry in Indonesia this year, which means we will add more availability of the handsets without opening new stores,” said Eka.

RIM Southeast Asia managing director Hastings Singh said that his company had made a contribution to Indonesia’s economy by creating approximately 6,000 jobs from selling Blackberry.

He added that RIM was also focusing this year on cooperating with schools and universities in
Indonesia. (nad)