April 12, 2006
Beset on all sides it seems, RIM's CrackBerry BlackBerry now has some serious name competition from China.
Behold, the RedBerry. No joke.
BEIJING and TORONTO — On the eve of its long-delayed China launch, BlackBerry is facing a sudden challenge from a cheaper Chinese rival called, unapologetically, RedBerry.
The new service, aimed squarely at BlackBerry, was launched this month by China Unicom Ltd., the state-controlled telecommunications giant that ranks as China's second-biggest mobile operator.
The new RedBerry service could pose a major challenge to Research in Motion Ltd., which is planning to launch BlackBerry in China by the end of next month. Its China launch has been delayed by two years of negotiations and regulatory obstacles, and RedBerry has now been introduced ahead of it.
China Unicom left no doubt that it is brazenly attempting to capitalize on BlackBerry's global fame.
"The RedBerry name extends the vivid name of BlackBerry that people are already familiar with, and it also combines the new red symbol of China Unicom," the company said in a press release.
China Unicom spokesmen refused to comment yesterday on whether they expected any disputes over trademark infringement. RIM did not respond to requests for comment made through its New York-based public-relations firm.
The new China service is the same basic "push-mail" concept as BlackBerry, automatically sending e-mail to the customer's phone whenever a new message arrives, although it does not use a proprietary handset. Instead it uses the CDMA digital cellphones that China Unicom is already marketing.
A state-owned newspaper, China Daily, said China Unicom's decision to call its product the RedBerry is "a clear sign that the firm is ready to challenge the BlackBerry push-mail service." Another Chinese business publication said China Unicom is "taking up the hatchet" against BlackBerry.
In its press release, China Unicom acknowledges that BlackBerry is "the most successful application of push mail." But a standard five-megabyte e-mail account at RedBerry will cost less than a dollar a month, plus a few cents for each e-mail sent. A typical BlackBerry account in Hong Kong costs up to $64 (U.S.) per month for unlimited e-mail.
"From RIM's point of view, this is rather disturbing," a Canadian business consultant in Beijing said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It's obviously a copycat name. It's a fairly clever example of brand piracy."
RIM announced plans to crack the Chinese market in the first quarter of 2002, and it has already begun selling BlackBerry in Hong Kong. But despite signing a memorandum of understanding with China Mobile in 2004, it has faced lengthy delays in launching in mainland China.
Last week, RIM said it would launch its China service with China Mobile by the end of May. But it said it will target only multinational corporations and others in China who already have BlackBerrys.
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