One of the defining features of Blackberry devices was their Blackberry Messenger (BBM) system, which allowed Blackberry users to communicate with other Blackberry users for free over WiFi or mobile internet. Now it looks like Apple has decided to take away that feature by introducing iMessage, which was unveiled back in WWDC, and is essentially Apple’s answer to BBM, allowing iOS users to send each other messages for free.
However it looks like not only will RIM be taking a hit thanks to iMessage, but according to multiple analysts, this could cost carriers all over the world the money they are currently making off text messages. According to one analyst, about two trillion text messages are being sent in the US each other, which roughly translates to about $2 billion worth of revenue annually.
Considering that text messages go through the same system used by voice calls, essentially carriers are just making use of an infrastructure that already exists, with a University of Waterloo professor, Srinivasan Keshav, claiming that the markup on text messages are as high as 4,090%.