In a bid to expand its market share in the Philippines, Research in Motion (RIM), makers of the BlackBerry smartphone, contracted Microwarehouse, Inc. to distribute its handsets locally starting next month.

Microwarehouse, which has been operating in the country for 15 years now, is an industry pioneer in the marketing and distribution of top-of-the-line digital tools, devices, and gadgets from Apple iPods and Mac, Hewlett-Packard (HP) iPAQ, Belkin, iHome, Klipsch, Philips, 3Com, Cisco and Linksys.

“We want more people in all networks to use the handsets,” announced Hastings Singh, Research in Motion Singapore Pte Ltd.’s regional director for distribution. Before, Filipinos can only avail of BlackBerry handsets as part of Smart Communications and Globe Telecom Inc.’s bundled services.

In addition to the RIM retail deal for Blackberry smartphones, accessories and optional devices, Microwarehouse will likewise provide after-sales services for BlackBerry handsets in the domestic market and coordinate with RIM’s regional service centers in Singapore and Hong Kong, Singh noted.

Furthermore, he did not rule out the possibility of setting up stand-alone BlackBerry stores in the future. RIM’s BlackBerry dominates North America, where it controls almost half of the market share for smartphones, but has not really made its presence felt in the Asia Pacific region.