BBM™ will soon come preinstalled on a variety of Android™-based smartphones from leading OEMs across Africa, India, Indonesia, Latin America and the Middle East. Beginning next month, Android smartphones from Be, Brightstar, Celkon, EVERCOSS, IMO, Micromax, Mito, Snexian, Spice, TECNO, TiPhone and Zen will include BBM preinstalled. In addition, BlackBerry® confirmed that BBM will also continue to be available as a free download from Android app stores, including Google Play.

“It is clear that smartphone customers see BBM as a must have app for active conversations. The uptake we have seen for BBM since the launch on Android and iPhone is amazing,” said Andrew Bocking, Executive Vice President for BBM at BlackBerry. “We’re thrilled to be working with leading Android smartphone manufacturers from across the globe to help bring their customers the best out-of-the-box experience with BBM preinstalled.”

“BBM is extremely popular in Africa and we know our customers will appreciate the ability to quickly access BBM on their TECNO devices and start connecting with friends and family. BBM is now a central component of our Android-based smartphone platform offering,” said Jason Liu, Marketing Director of TECNO GROUP. “We are pleased to announce that we’re working with the BBM team at BlackBerry to install BBM on the Android smartphones we bring to market.”