Two Reasons For RIM To Be Cheerful: U.K., Spanish Teens Still Love BlackBerrys (Well, They’re Cheaper Than iPhones)

RIM’s global market share dwindled to just 4.3 percent in Q3  (IDC’s figure) but BlackBerrys are still wildly popular with a certain cash-strapped sub-set of mobile users in parts of Europe: namely teenagers. The latest data shining a light on a rare RIM stronghold comes from a wide-ranging research report looking at mobile users’ habits in France, Spain and the U.K. The annual report, commissioned by carrier Orange, suggests advertisers “must not write off BlackBerry if they are to successfully engage with a younger audience”. The report found that BlackBerry penetration amongst teenagers in the UK and Spain was two and three times higher respectively than the overall “mobile media user” population. The researchers use the term “mobile media user” to refer to people who use a mobile device for rich media and communications, such as IM, social networking, streaming video, email, browsing the internet and location-based services, rather than just talk and text. In Spain, the research indicates that RIM’s devices are in a healthy majority of teens’ back pockets, with 64 percent of 11 to 17 year-olds in the country owning a BlackBerry. While, in the U.K., RIM’s grip on the youth market is also strong, if not quite as fuerte as in Spain — with close to half (46 percent) of U.K

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