RIM Shifts Focus to Middle East

BlackBerry device maker Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) is planning to open a 1,500 square-foot retail flagship store in Dubai as part of a partnership with wireless carrier Axiom Telecom, just the beginning of the firm’s plans to expand into the Middle East.

“We’re getting the first one up and running and then we’ll be looking at other cities across the Middle East — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar,” RIM’s managing director of the Middle East business told Bloomberg.

The company also plans to open about 4,000 stores across Indonesia, as well as outlets in Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, and Lagos.

“The Middle East is different from Indonesia, and what we need to do is a little bit different in terms of the experience we want to deliver,” RIM’s global head of sales Patrick Spence told Bloomberg in an interview. “We’re being very focused in terms of the countries and cities we’re doing it in, based on where the brand is and what we think we need to do.”