Home Depot has confirmed plans to replace BlackBerry smartphones as the official handset provided to store managers, district managers, corporate-level staffers and field ops. The home improvement chain is reportedly already in the process of migrating roughly 10,000 users to Apple’s iPhone.
As CNET points out, Home Depot’s decision likely won’t have a long-term impact on BlackBerry. Interestingly enough, it comes just a week after the company formerly known as Research in Motion launched what will likely be their last-ditch effort to regain market share relinquished to Android and iOS over the past several years.
The company’s decision to move away from BlackBerry handsets is the latest in a string of similar decisions from other large companies. BlackBerry was once the go-to platform for business-minded individuals but just last year, the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency ditched BlackBerry in favor of $2.1 million worth of iPhones. Since then, they have announced plans to try a pilot program using new BlackBerry 10 devices, we’re told. The National Transportation Safety Board and Australia’s Treasury Department made similar moves as well.
It remains to be seen if the new BlackBerry handsets will be able to turn the company around. Early indications look promising, however, as President and CEO Thorsten Heins recently announced strong sales in Canada and the UK. Just a day later, the company confirmed plans to withdrawal from the Japanese market.
