With the recent makeover plan and in an urge to increase revenues, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion launching a low-cost BlackBerry smartphone for the Indian market. As BGR India details, it is based on BlackBerry OS 7.1, with a 2.44-inch QVGA display, Wi-Fi support, inbuilt radio, basic 2 megapixel camera and 2G support only. The real beauty is in the price, which is $215 (10,990 INR). Launching the phone in India with such a price gives company two markets – the small yet high-end business and consumer market, and the large but low-end market.
In the same urge RIM is also launching the device in Indonesia in the coming weeks, its most lucrative market. There is a pattern emerging, however. RIM feels ’safe’ in these two regions after smoothing over problems with the two governments, and after investing so much of its cash in the two powerhouses of the emerging market place, RIM has no option but to stay and ride it out. Both Indonesia and India have threatened RIM with service shutdowns and network cut-offs in the past year, claiming that the devices are “too secure” and government monitoring of these networks are necessary to combating terrorism.