As far as mobile apps are concerned, BlackBerry continues to keep its options open. It is reported that the company will make sure its QNX based smartphones support Android apps as well. According to Bloomberg, Research In Motion (RIM) plans to use a version of the Android app player for PlayBook on its QNX operating system smartphones. The phones are likely to be launched by early 2012.
QNX based BlackBerrys are a significant part of RIM’s plans to arrest the slide of its fortunes in the smartphone segment — at a time when the sales of iPhone and Android phones are increasing.
iPhone and Android phones have access to a large number of apps. QNX smartphones, on the other hand, wouldn’t be able to provide many Proprietary apps, and that seems to be the reason why the company is enabling access to Android apps.
The dilemma for the company seems real — on the one hand it needs to build a developer community to bring its app store to life; on the other developers seem to be tired with the rising number of app platforms and they want the app scenario to be simple because they don’t want to create multiple versions of the same app. At the same time, the situation will change dramatically if QNX based BlackBerrys begin to sell in large numbers.