It may not have entered the Oxford dictionary yet, but 'BBM', a brand name for the popular BlackBerry Messenger application, has officially been included in the latest edition of the Collins English Dictionary.

According to Research In Motion (RIM), which makes BlackBerry handsets, the inclusion reflects the BBM service’s "extraordinary global popularity".

A RIM statement says that BBM is today used by over 56 million people worldwide, with 70% of customers ‘BBMing’ on a daily basis to communicate with friends, family and colleagues.

In South Africa, over 98% of BlackBerry customers use the BBM application.

SA, which has a population of 49 million, has a mobile penetration rate of close to 100%, according to BuddeComm research. Research firm GfK also says that one out of every four handsets in the country is a smartphone, while BlackBerry devices account for 7 out of the 10 best-selling smartphones in SA in May 2012.

South Africa, though, is one of the last remaining strongholds for BlackBerry devices in a world that has largely shunned the handsets for the likes of the iPhone and Android devices.

According to research firm IDC’s sales figures on the global smartphone market for the second quarter of 2012, Android comprised 104.8 million units with a 68.1% share, iOS (Apple iPhones) comprised 26 million units with a 18.8% share and BlackBerry comprised 7.4 million units with a 4.8% share.

IDC further says that BlackBerry’s global share of the smartphone market fell over 5 percentage points from a year earlier when it stood at 11.5%.

And the announcement that the phone’s instant messaging service has been included in the Collins English Dictionary is probably a slight bit of good news for the firm that is struggling to survive in a brutal global smartphone market.

“The inclusion of BBM in the Collins English dictionary recognises its status as one of the world’s most popular mobile social networks,” says T.A. McCann, vice president, BBM and Social Communities at BlackBerry maker RIM.

“In recent years, the term ‘BBM’ has transcended its technological origins to become a brand that is part of the everyday language of millions of people all over the world.

“The service itself continues to evolve, with ‘BBMers’ able to share content, create groups and even post status updates to other social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter directly from the BBM app.

“We’re honoured that a word used daily by millions of our customers has been officially welcomed into the English language,” he added.