BlackBerry’s BBM consumer service to shut down on May 31

New Delhi, April 18

BBM, once a pioneer of encrypted peer-to-peer communication, today announced that it will shut down its consumer service on May 31, after losing out to competitors like WhatsApp and WeChat.

BBM, in a blog post, said it had set out to “reinvigorate” BBM consumer service three years ago as a cross-platform service where users can not only chat but also consume content and use payment services.

However, consumers will have the option of moving to BBMe — BlackBerry’s enterprise messaging offering.

“We poured our hearts into making this a reality, and we are proud of what we have built to date...Though we are sad to say goodbye, the time has come to sunset the BBM consumer service, and for us to move on,” it added.

In 2016, BlackBerry had licensed BBM Consumer to Emtek as part of its transition process.

Much like BlackBerry phones, BBM also lost preference as users moved to feature-rich Android and iOS smartphones.

Created in 2005, BBM was available as a key offering on BlackBerry handsets. In 2013, the messaging platform was made available for download on Android and iOS devices.

Facing intense competition from players like Facebook-owned WhatsApp, BBM introduced a host of new features on its platform in 2016 to woo new users and keep existing users engaged on its platform. — PTI