New evidence of Android apps running on BlackBerry phones emerges
Mobile app developer ShopSavvy reports that its Android application has recently been tested on multiple BlackBerry devices. BGR exclusively reported last month that RIM may be working on a solution that would allow Android apps …
Context & Ripple Effects
BGR's January exclusive reported RIM might be building a way to run Android apps on BlackBerry hardware — at that point an unconfirmed claim about the company's intentions. Today's development changes the evidentiary basis: ShopSavvy, a shipping Android developer, says its own app has been tested on multiple BlackBerry devices, which is the first named, working-app data point behind the rumor.
The timing matters because the BlackBerry PlayBook is heading into retail at $499 through Staples and Office Depot, so any app-catalog fix lands right as RIM's tablet faces an established iPad and a fast-growing Android field.
First-order effects
- ShopSavvy's tests give RIM's rumored compatibility effort its first verifiable proof point — a real Android application functioning on BlackBerry hardware rather than a leak about internal plans.
- If a runtime ships, BlackBerry users get a route into the existing Android app catalog without waiting on developers to write native ports.
Second-order effects
- Developers gain leverage over RIM: with Android builds covering BlackBerry, the cost of ignoring the platform drops, weakening RIM's ability to demand native investment.
- Rivals' tablet and phone pitch shifts accordingly — once catalog parity can be bought with a compatibility layer, hardware specs and services carry more of the differentiation load.
Third-order effects
- A confirmed Android layer would mark a structural concession for RIM, whose brand was built on a proprietary stack, and push mobile competition toward whoever controls the largest app catalog rather than whoever owns the OS.
- If the pattern holds across vendors, compatibility layers become standard equipment, compressing the number of distinct app ecosystems the market will sustain.
The trend: Mobile platform competition is shifting from operating systems to app-catalog breadth, with compatibility layers emerging as the fast path for laggard platforms.