BlackBerry hits 50 million sales milestone

RIM has sold 50 million BlackBerry smartphones in 10 years

Research In Motion (RIM) has hit the 50 million sales milestone for its BlackBerry smartphone almost exactly 10 years after the first handset was launched in January 1999.

In the years that followed, RIM grew from making two-way pagers to add phone, email and web browsing support to its products as the BlackBerry name became synonymous with the business smartphone market.

Since then, the company estimates that it has amassed a user base of 21 million subscribers who transfer an estimated three petabytes of data over the handsets each month.

BlackBerry users are so keen on their devices that the term Crackberry has become common currency. Barack Obama has reportedly refused to give his up, forcing the Secret Service to upgrade its security.

RIM hopes that the path to the next 50 million sales will be forged in part by its two latest models, the touch-screen BlackBerry Bold and BlackBerry Storm handsets. But the BlackBerry now faces a much tougher battle.

Once rivalled in a booming market only by Windows Mobile and Symbian handsets, the BlackBerry now finds itself in a smartphone arena devastated by the economic crisis.

Additionally, new and formidable rivals have emerged in the form of the Apple iPhone and the Google Android platform, with challengers such as the Palm Pre looming on the horizon.