I often read on HN that Nokia has an edge in developing markets. But guess what was voted the "coolest brand" in a May 2011 survey of South African youth? Blac

I often read on HN that Nokia has an edge in developing markets. But guess what was voted the "coolest brand" in a May 2011 survey of South African youth? Blackberry[1]! Any self respecting geek could have/should have bought an Android handset, or an iPhone. But the vast majority of my friends family are on BBM, so I got one. It is the new Facebook, or Mxit[2]. After getting BBM, I was amazed by how many people have Blackberrys. My sister traded her new iPhone for a BB, after realising how isolated she was. My granny, and my maid[3] both have Blackberrys. If Nokia had a special insight into developing markets, they would have realised that they are vulnerable in the messaging space and launched a messaging app long ago. [1]http://www.newstime.co.za/ScienceandTech/Generation_Next_Names_BlackBerry_South_Africa%E2%80%99s_Coolest_Brand/26027/ http://www.newstime.co.za/ScienceandTech/Generation_Next_Nam... [2]http://thenextweb.com/africa/2011/06/14/why-mobile-social-network-mxit-is-twice-as-big-as-facebook-in-south-africa/ http://thenextweb.com/africa/2011/06/14/why-mobile-social-ne... [3]The average middle class South African family can indeed afford a full-time domestic servant