BBM gets 20 million active users on Android & iOS within a week

BlackBerry has revealed that 20 million consumers were actively using BBM on Android and iOS in the first week of launch. While we were not sure what BlackBerry’s definition of active users is, but at least 20 million people have downloaded the app from Google Play and Apple App Store.

The company has not shared Android specific numbers, however BBM for Android was said to be the top free overall app in 35 countries in Google Play in the first week, which is pretty decent feat.

BlackBerry has reiterated that BBM Video calling, BBM Voice calling and BBM Channels will be added to the BBM for Android offering in the coming months.

“We still have a few more tricks up our sleeves and I will look to share more with you as we bring new features to BBM in the coming months,” Andrew Bocking, BlackBerry’s executive in charge of BBM, said in a statement.

Now, the big question is whether BBM is able to maintain these numbers going forward as despite all the downloads, majority of BBM for Android or iOS users still have just a few contacts and the engagement is nowhere near the other popular messaging apps like Whatsapp, which currently has over 300 million users across platforms whereas BBM has just crossed 80 million users.