Maxis announced yesterday their release of the BlackBerry 8300 in Malaysia, while making their intention of closing the enterprise-consumer gap loud and clear. Right now, Malaysia has a 70/30 split in terms of business and personal BlackBerry sales, but they hope the Curve will help change that.
“As BlackBerry usage in Malaysia continues to climb, we are making the powerful device accessible and affordable to people with an entry-level package for the BlackBerry Internet Solution at RM20 per month,” [Chief operating officer Jon Eddy Abdullah] said at the launch of the smartphone Monday. … “We believe the consumer potential for e-mail services is largely untapped and this package is designed specifically for the consumer looking for wireless e-mail connectivity,“ he added.
We were just talking yesterday about how integral e-mail was to the enterprise customer, but how vital is it to consumers? If e-mail wasn’t a part of your job, would you still check it every day, let alone constantly through a handheld? Retail cost for Maxis’ BlackBerry 8300 is RM1,999, or $US 570.
