BBM for Windows Phone confirmed for Q2 2014 release

Now, BlackBerry's CEO John Chen has reaffirmed the company's plan for Windows Phone smartphones and confirmed that the BBM app will be released by second quarter (May or June) this year. Chen added that the instant messaging service will be released for the Nokia X platforms and the app will come preloaded on some Nokia devices in selective markets. Chen also indicated that BBM will come preinstalled on some Lumia devices, once the app is released for the Windows Phone platform.

Chen, while talking to Techcrunch, revealed that BBM now has 85 million monthly active users and 113 million registered users.

Chen was quoted as saying, "We're seeing a solid uptick in multi-platform users, driving growth in total registration. Like last quarter, growing the BBM user base is a top priority and we have a number of initiatives driving this."

Earlier in March, the Canadian company finally added sponsored content to BBM Channels; though it clearly revealed that sponsored content would not appear in user's BBM chats, calling them 'untouchable'.

In October 2013, BBM finally landed on non-BlackBerry OS platforms, specifically Android and iOS, after the company was forced to pause and delay the rollout in September 2013. The app was downloaded more than 10 million times on Android and iOS within the first 24 hours, bringing in over 20 million new users to the BlackBerry Messenger platform in the first week.

For those unaware, the BBM app allows users to exchange texts, voice notes and pictures with friends and others. It also offers group chat. Users need to sign-in with a BlackBerry ID following which a PIN is allocated to them, in a manner similar to BlackBerry Messenger on BlackBerry. Users can then add friends by sharing their PIN with friends via SMS, email and social networks in addition to QR codes.