During CES, BlackBerry CEO John Chen said the company will be introducing a new monetization strategy for its mobile messaging platform, BBM. The plan would be move past stickers and offer millions of users the option to purchase a personalized BBM PIN and remove ads from their feed, for a monthly fee. At the time, Chen didn’t disclose the cost but noted these additions would be available “sometime this year.”
An update has arrived for BBM beta testers — both iPhone and BlackBerry — that brings these two new features to the forefront. Curious about the cost? Well, to remove ads within BBM will cost your a monthly fee of $0.99, while a custom/vanity PIN is priced a bit higher at $1.99/month.
Chen said during his keynote presentation that he hoped BBM would generate $100 million for the company’s 2014 fiscal year, which ends at the end of March.
[source] BlackBerry, N4BB [/source]
