BlackBerry (BBRY) included an Android emulator in its BlackBerry 10 operating system that allows developers to easily port their applications from Android to BlackBerry. The decision to include such a tool paid off for the company, which launched its new platform with more than 70,000 apps. BlackBerry recently announced that its app store is now home to more than 100,000 BlackBerry 10 applications, and it has been revealed that only 20% are ported from Android. While the operating system is still missing key apps such as Instagram and Netflix (NFLX), for the most part BlackBerry has been able to attract developers to its still unproven platform.
“We give them a very nice on-ramp to get onto the platform,” Martyn Mallick, BlackBerry’s vice president for global alliances and business development, said in an interview with AllThingsD. “Our users deserve to have great content. If that is the fastest way we can get some of that content, that’s great.”
Following strong sales of BlackBerry 10 devices across the globe, many developers have abandoned initial plans to simply port their old Android apps and are now committed to building natively for the platform. Mallick notes that others are sticking with their Android apps but adapting them to take advantage of a number of BlackBerry 10-specific features like push support and the BlackBerry Hub.
“There are still some partners that are not in a position where their schedules line up with our schedules,” he said. “There are some partners where their priorities are elsewhere, not even necessarily in mobile.”
The executive wasn’t worried about early reports of BlackBerry Z10’s lackluster launch in the U.S., suggesting it will see a better response from T-Mobile and Verizon (VZ).
“Take a look over the next couple of weeks,” he said. “I expect we will see a stronger response.”
