BlackBerry device owners are now able to download Mxit 7, the upgraded version of the mobile social networking application.

Mxit has announced on Tuesday that the application is officially available in the BlackBerry World application store.

BlackBerry is the likes of South Africa’s most popular smartphone brand as its market share in the country’s phone market stood at 23% in 2013, according to ‘The Mobility 2014 research study’ compiled by research firm World Wide Worx with the backing of First National Bank (FNB).

The BlackBerry Mxit 7 app’s availability follows the launch of the application on the likes of Apple and Nokia Asha devices late last year.

Earlier this month, ITWeb Africa also reported that Mxit 7 has found its way onto the Google Android Play store, albeit as a beta version.

A Mxit 7 app for Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating systems, though, has not been officially launched yet.

Mxit has upgraded its instant messaging application amid growing social media competition and the company’s bid to be more aggressive in markets such as Nigeria and India.

Facebook last year overtook Mxit to become South Africa’s largest social network while instant messaging app 2go has proven to be tough competition.

According to a research report by World Wide Worx and Fuseware called “A Social Media Landscape 2014”, Mxit has 7.4 million users in Africa, while 2go has 10.5 million and Facebook has over 9 million in South Africa alone.