BlackBerry Ltd (NASDAQ:BBRY) (TSE:BB) is still somewhat popular on Capitol Hill, one of the most important markets for the company in the future. As per a poll conducted by The Hill, around seven out of ten lawmakers use an iPhone, while 28% are still using a Blackberry and 9% are using an Android phone.
BlackBerry better than Android, Windows
Most of the market is taken by these three phones, leaving hardly anything for Windows. The numbers look exciting for BlackBerry, but there are lawmakers such as Reps. Howard Coble (R-N.C.) and Ed Pastor (D-Ariz.) who do not use a smartphone at all but prefer to take messages from staffers or pick up a landline to make calls. There are also lawmakers who prefer to keep more than one phone–a flip phone along with a smartphone.
Out of all the participants in the survey, just one lawmaker’s (Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash)) office said that she uses a Windows phone. DelBene, a former Microsoft executive, now represents the district that includes the company’s Redmond, Wash. headquarters.
Congress prefers Apple
Congress prefers to use Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s products more than the whole nation.
“I love Apple. I love Apple,” Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) told CEO Tim Cook last year when he testified about his company’s tax practices.
McCaskill also said that she insisted her husband switch from the brand he was using to a MacBook, and she is very proud of Apple being an American company. She has an iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air in her office.
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) said that people in Mexico and Canada love the iPhone and the iPad and that he himself owns an iPad. Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), who represents the Silicon Valley district, has a series of Apple products, such as the iPhone, iPad and MacBook Air, and is planning to buy the company’s upcoming smartwatch, spokesman Ken Scudder told The Hill.
For BlackBerry, which is battling declining popularity, it’s good news that it is a preferred device among lawmakers. BlackBerry CEO John Chen has been making efforts to revive the company. It posted adjusted second-quarter losses of 2 cents, which was better than the analysts’ expectations of 15 cents per share in losses.
