KEY POINTS:
It's the little device associated with harried American executives who can't bear being away from their email inbox - even when they're in elevators or airport lounges.
The BlackBerry phone-cum-internet terminal is also experiencing phenomenal growth Down Under with sales expected to double next year on both sides
of the Tasman.
The creation of Canadian phone maker Research In Motion (RIM), the BlackBerry became a smash hit in corporate America a few years ago, thanks to its ability to deliver email to the mobile device as the message arrives at the recipient's computer.
Rival phones now do the same thing, but BlackBerry sales have doubled each year since Vodafone introduced the device to New Zealand four years ago, said Vodafone spokesman Paul Brislen, who declined to reveal sales figures.
RIM expects Australian BlackBerry sales to increase "well over 100 per cent in the next year" and anticipates adding 1.7 million BlackBerry users worldwide in the next three months.
"We sell five times as many BlackBerrys as we do Windows Mobile devices, even though there are only two BlackBerrys here, the Pearl and the Curve, versus five or six Windows devices," said Brislen.
The traditional BlackBerry user was a management-level employee at a large corporate, and government ministers and officials use them as the Blackberry is considered to have strong security features. But Brislen said the typical user is changing.
"It's not just the senior executives, it's filtering through the business and there's an extension of the services used by BlackBerry owners. So it's not just email and calendar, it's also GPS [navigation] and third party applications like databases."
A BlackBerry handset costs $799-$899, and customers buy a usage plan on top of that.
Self-confessed "Crackberry" addict, Rod Drury takes his device as he travels the world, receiving incoming email wherever there is mobile data coverage.
"It eliminates the catch-up from being offline while on the road," said the technology entrepreneur, who is in the process of launching his accounting software company Xero in Australia and Britain.
"I find it reduces stress knowing I'm on top of my email, and I don't have a bomb waiting in my inbox," said Drury, who dislikes listening and responding to voicemail messages.
But David Rayner, Windows Client Marketing Manager, Microsoft NZ, said Microsoft is catching up fast.
"The ability to replicate your desktop experience on your mobile phone is the key. In New Zealand, we're confident that the launch of Telecom's Okta range of handsets featuring Windows Mobile 6 will level the playing field."