WhatsApp to end Blackberry OS support

At the end of last month, Facebook-owned WhatsApp announced it would no longer support a number of operating systems.

The messaging service explained this is due to rationalising the number of platforms they service. As a business, it simply wanted to focus on the platforms that most people use.

But not all the platforms that it dropped were strictly legacy. The BlackBerry 10 operating system has been dropped, and this represents the wider perception of where BlackBerry is at as a company. It is true to say that BlackBerry smartphones don’t have a large share of the wider smartphone market and are therefore losing the backing from mainstream app developers. However, BlackBerry is still a staple in many companies and recognised for best-practice mobile security.

There are likely thousands of executives across the globe typing away on their BlackBerry phone keyboard right now. In fact, an article published last year focused on the fact that BlackBerrys were abound at the World Economic Forum in Davos. It’s still the phone of choice for many decision-makers and large corporate firms alike.

Focusing on the business market rather than consumers – which is broadly BlackBerry’s strategy – will losing WhatsApp really make that much of a difference to BlackBerry? Is WhatsApp really the messaging service of choice for businesses, or is it more likely to be used socially?

To find out more, read Andrew Jackson's article: The end of BlackBerry support: WhatsApp with that? on Information Age. In his article he answers the following questions;

• Will losing WhatsApp really make that much of a difference to BlackBerry?
• Is WhatsApp really necessary for corporate devices?
• What corporate messaging services fill this gap?
• How does instant messaging fit into a wider communications technology – or mobile – strategy?

Read Andrew's full article here