Students power BlackBerry growth

Young people are becoming one of the largest sources of growth for BlackBerry, as students turn to the traditionally corporate devices to feed their instant messaging and texting addictions.

BlackBerry's sudden popularity on university campuses has taken many by surprise, with analysts sceptical that it could shed its close association with business executives.

New research by Mobile Youth, a consultancy, found that 2 per cent of university students in the UK have a BlackBerry device.

"It's quite a significant sum," said Josh Dhaliwal of Mobile Youth of BlackBerry's tally. "That would have been zero a couple of years ago."

In Mobile Youth's survey of 1,000 students last month, Nokia was the most popular phone maker with a 30 per cent share, followed by Sony Ericsson with 27 per cent. BlackBerry still has some way to go to catch the market leaders but its growth is impressive given smartphones are more expensive than traditional mobiles.

"The perception of the [BlackBerry] device has shifted tremendously," said Carolina Milanesi, mobile analyst at Gartner, a research group. "Now you are seen as cool because you have a BlackBerry."

While the iPhone steals most of the limelight for its web-browsing and multimedia functions, it is the BlackBerry's full "qwerty" keyboard and strength in messaging that holds appeal for teenagers addicted to instant messaging and texting.

Research in Motion, the Canadian group that makes the handsets, has been pitching them to consumers as it faces saturation and increasing competition in its core market.

More than 80 per cent of BlackBerry's new connections in its third quarter were from consumers, with more than half of its total subscribers now outside the corporate market.

Alongside operator subsidies and cheaper data charges, the BlackBerry has also become more affordable for younger people, especially compared with the iPhone.

"Because of the recession, people have swapped SMS for calls because you are spending less money," said Ms Milanesi. BlackBerry's built-in Messenger software is available for a flat fee, so it does not eat into voice minutes or texting allowances.