BBM gets over 20 mn users in first week

BlackBerry's messaging services BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) has won over 20 million new users in the very first week of its launch on Android andiPhone devices.

The instant messaging service had got more than 10 million downloads in the first 24 hours of launch.

During the first week, BBM was the top free overall applications across 35 countries in Google Play and across 107 countries in App Store.

BBM continues to maintain a strong position in key markets such as Canada, the US, the UK, Indonesia and much of the Middle East, the company said in a statement.

''It is great to see so many people downloading BBM, but the true measurement for us is engagement –the connections being made and the conversations in which our BBM community engages. The power of BBM has always been the active, real conversations and interaction that our customers enjoy,'' said Andrew Bocking, executive vice president of BBM at BlackBerry. ''From here on out, we will focus on active users of BBM and will no longer focus on simple download numbers.''

BBM, which provides instant messaging, has more than 80 million active users around the globe.

Smartphone manufacturer BlackBerry resumed the roll out BBM for users of rival handset manufacturers such as iPhone and mobile phones operating on Android a week ago.

In September, BlackBerry had paused the global rollout of BBM on rival phones, blaming the delay on issues caused by an unreleased old version of the service.