The BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service will no longer be available for consumers from 31 May, announced Emtek, the Indonesian company that took over management of the service from BlackBerry in 2016. BlackBerry responded by saying it would launch its BBM Enterprise app for consumers, offered free the first year.
Emtek said it was unable to make a success of turning BBM into a broader mobile services platform, and many users have moved on to other messaging apps.
In response, BlackBerry said it will make the BBM Enterprise encrypted messaging platform available for individual use. The BBMe app is available already for Android on the Play store and will launch on Apple's store soon. BBMe will be available free for the first year, and then cost USD 2.49 for a six-month subscription.
BlackBerry said it decided to launch the app out of "respect for loyal BBM users", and this was not a contractual obligation. It will not affect the company's financial guidance or strategy to focus on enterprise software.
