“It is a very tough market, but we love challenges”, said Paul Lucier, European Manager of RIM, to news agency TT.

It is unusual that a telecom manufacturer that’s not very well established and has its own type of operating system is trying to break in to the market this way.

Especially since Apple has gained such strong ground in the area since the release of the iPhone on the Scandinavian market.

However, most Swedes may only have heard the name Blackberry in films or on TV, but in several other European countries the company is amongst the top-brands of smart-phone manufacturers.

The Blackberry is the most common type of mobile phone in both the UK and the Netherlands, according to TT.

One of the main sales pitches for the phone is that all data traffic goes through the company’s own server, making it a safer network in comparison to other brands, especially in terms of encrypting data.

This has also helped making Blackberry the brand of choice at US authorities as well as the US military and Nato.

But there is another prominent feature to Blackberry, which may well make a difference for consumers.

Most of the Blackberry mobile phones still have keys on the handset, rather than touch-screens.

“Many mobile phone users today seem to have to compromise when they use a touch-screen mobile. I know for sure there is a large number of people who prefer using normal keys on the handset”, Lucier told TT.