Egypt turmoil delays plans for BlackBerry lab

Research in Motion's lab in Egypt is supposed to provide training courses to increase the number of Arabic apps and expand local content for the BlackBerry 10 operating system Above, advertising for BShow more

Plans to open a BlackBerry development lab in Cairo have been delayed because of the political and social turmoil in Egypt.

Research in Motion (RIM), the Canadian manufacturer of BlackBerry smartphones, had planned to open the lab before the end of this year, but is now aiming for early next year.

The facility is to be located in Cairo's Smart Village, alongside companies such as Cisco, HP and IBM.

"Our development centres are intended to put people on the ground that can interact with local developer systems and mobile app developers," said Rory O'Neill, RIM's vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. "They're a physical presence, and Cairo will cater mainly to North Africa."

The lab is to provide training courses to increase the number of Arabic apps and expand local content for the BlackBerry 10 operating system, whichis to be launched on January 30.

RIM'S Middle East App World has 60,000 applications made in and focused on the region, of which more than 2,000 are in Arabic. The first figure is up from 5,000 apps when the local store was launched in May 2011. The Middle East continues to be one of RIM's strongest regions, even though it has suffered big losses to Apple's iPhone and Android-based brands.

"We see tremendous opportunities in Africa and the Middle East as a whole. Africa is the fastest-growing smartphone continent and the Middle East is a huge region for us," Mr O'Neill said.

BlackBerry's sales in the Middle East grew by about 110 per cent in its last fiscal year. RIM has a 65 per cent share of the UAE smartphone market according to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority.

Ninety-eight per cent of BlackBerry owners in the UAE use the phone's Messenger tool. Dubai has been chosen as one of six destinations for the global launch of the new operating system. RIM is also working to open a flagship store in the emirate early next year.