BlackBerry discontent

One in five BlackBerry phone users is considering switching to another supplier because of the service problems which hit millions of people this week, according to a study.

A survey of more than 1,000 BlackBerry customers by shopping comparison website Kelkoo found that 19 per cent are thinking about moving to another manufacturer, 42 per cent will consider changing later and 8 per cent said they have bought a new mobile phone already.

Kelkoo said that with the launch of the iPhone 4S already boasting pre-orders of more than one million, this week’s problems could not have come at a worse time for BlackBerry, giving users a “tempting ship to jump to”.

Research among another 3,000 people found seven out of ten who were planning to get a BlackBerry said they would need reassurance as they would be put off by the recent problems.