10 Reasons why Blackberry 10 might be dead before arrival

I have been watching the news as of late, reading the news and hearing rumours that lead me to believe that it is basically over for RIM, the blackberry is dead, it just doesn't know it yet. I am going to lay out all of my points here and elaborate on them a bit as well as pointing to some recent articles out there.

Now I know that virtually everyone thinks they are doomed to fail (you could be hard pressed to find any positive news on anything other than a blackberry fan site) and I want to believe that they will continue to be a player, but as I have said before, they have not produced anything that could build any sort of confidence.

RIM in my opinion is destined to be sold, most likely on the heels of the release of BB10 if it isn't well received. So the way I figure it, by or before the end of 2013 RIM will be a part of some other company or private equity firm.

So here are the reasons why I think it is over:

1 - Let's start with Blackberry World

Let's face it, Blackberry World was officially the place where we were supposed to be the reason we believe that there will be a come back for RIM and they completely let us down. Can anyone honestly say they would invest time and money in a company who does not show their progress on the OS and hardware of the next generation of Blackberries? Of course not.

They showed off a car running QNX, though it is neat, it will never see the light of day. They also showed off the Blackberry 10 software keyboard which looks neat, but let's face it, Blackberry = Keyboard. But where was the Blackberry device we are supposed to be later in the year? No where. Instead the only thing that was shown was an 'Alpha' device looking very much like an iPhone4 that may or may not be the hardware that will be manufactured before the end of the year.

Bottom Line:

They can wine and dine participants all they want (some of which I understand had their trips paid for) but if you do not show the future of Blackberry here, no one knows what the future of Blackberry will look like and will not have any confidence that you will make it there.

Related Article:

http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/05/30/rim-2/

2 - The RIM 'Porche' event

Though this really doesn't have any signifigance in terms of the direction of RIM, it baffles me that they would even hold such an event considering the situation they are in.

RIM is on deaths door and they grab media attention by releasing a very expensive already obsolete device that doesn't really look that good. Sure it might have been created by top designers, but seriously, in a time where you are cutting jobs, stock is losing value and investor confidence is out the window, RIM decides to show of a $2,000 BB7 device.

If anything it just proves that they lack direction and tact, even if they didn't design the device as many articles indicate, what good is it to have a story like this in the media?

Bottom Line:

Even if some rich movie stars buy the blackberry 'Porche', no one else will be. If there is going to be any news coverage it SHOULD be focused on something positive that has a relevant message.

Related Article: 

http://m.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/rims-attempt-to-stand-out-from-the-crowd/article4271845/?service=mobile

3 - First BB10 device will lack a keyboard

I know ths may be minor to some people, but in a time like this RIM is supposed to play on the strengths that they have left one of which is the keyboard on the device. If it doesn't have a keyboard, then the device is really no different than an iOS or Android device, and if that is the case, why would anyone choose it over the others?

That's right, no one would because it is too little too late. By this time we all own other devices with loads of applications, why would we give that up to just to go Blackberry 10, for the OS? I doubt it. The only people that would are enterprise users, but how can they get anything done without a keyboard?

Want insult to injury? BB7 devices cannot go to BB10, guess what their next device is going to be?

Bottom Line:

Without a keyaboard they have overlooked the only individuals who could possibly be interested in moving to BB10. The reception of the device will be ice cold.

Related Articles:


http://mobile.washingtonpost.com/rss.jsp;jsessionid=02344C003D5F9DA84C139E8710A7F16F?rssid=4220853&item=http%3a%2f%2fwww.washingtonpost.com%2fworld%2frim-says-first-blackberry-10-device-will-not-have-a-physical-keyboard%2f2012%2f06%2f21%2fgJQAbDJosV_mobile.mobile&cid=-1&spf=1

http://www.macnn.com/articles/12/05/02/blackberry.7.apps.said.to.be.compatible.with.bb10/

4 - Their focus is consumer not enterprise

With all the coverage there hasn't been much said or shown that would give you a sense on what strategy RIM has to keep it's enterprise stronghold. All I know off the top of my head is that it will have a virtual keyboard that is supposedly neat and a camera that can adjust time. I haven't heard when it will be ready for the enterprise, if it works with existing BES, if encryption and IT policies will remain the same or if it will even function remotely like a BB7 device.

If I am an enterprise and I am looking to deploy some new devices, or know what Mobile Fusion does, shouldn't we be seeing how BB10 and Mobile Fusion were made for each other? Or at the very least be given the expectation that when we deploy a BB10 device, that it will be no different than how a Blackberry is deployed today.

It all seems to be focused on the consumer market, one that they are going to lose regardless of whether or not the BB10 device launch goes well. No one is going to switch.

Bottom Line: 

They have only a few strengths left: Their patents, their security, their keyboards, their network, their foothold in the enterprise. They are not playing on any of their strengths and they are not providing enterprises with a warm fuzzy feeling.

Related Article:

http://mashable.com/2012/05/01/rim-blackberry-10-strategy/

5 - The Microsoft Factor

Everyone knows that there are 2 mobile platforms duking it out to be #3 and their names are Microsoft and RIM. RIM has not shown anyone what is new and what direction that their business is going to move in, and Microsoft has partnered with Nokia to start selling Windows phone 7 devices.

That was, until the bomb that was the Los Angeles announcement of the 'Surface Tablets' happened. It was a very exciting announcement for sure, it lacked a lot of detail, but regardless it showed you the direction that Microsoft intended to move and that is straight for the enterprise.

Just look at the drastic changes they are making in Windows 8 and that it even has 2 versions Pro and RT. Couple this with the announcement of Windows Phone 8 and the fact that their 'System Centre 2012' can be used to provision any number of mobile devices.

So where is this going? Well, it is pretty much a direct answer to a companies BYOD problem. Let's see, right now people are:

• Bringing their blackberry and iPhone/Android phone to work.
• Bringing iPads and Android tablets into the workplace because of their portability.

Most people wish they could do everything in one device rather than carry a work phone and a personal phone, but people are not going to be doing this for much longer. They are also using tablets as if they are laptops, but like most people have issues doing day to day tasks such as accessing corporate e-mail or writing documents.

Now, enter the Windows 8 platform:

• System Centre can provision any device, but would probably do much better with a Windows 7 or 8 phone.
• The Surface Pro is practically in the enterprise as we speak. Almost any tech inclined titled officer that saw the presentation saw all of the posibilities that come with the Surface. No more 2 - 7 lb notebook, compatibility with business programs, compatibility for office documents and all this ties right back into Active directory and group policies. These things can be the best managed devices in the enterprise.

In the next 3 - 4 years, no one is going to be carrying a laptop computer it will be the equivalent of the desktop. The only people that will use them will need them for their power while the rest of us just need a PC that will surf the net, access our corporate e-mail and edit our documents.

This is the missing piece that no one has addressed, and if Microsoft can pull it off I think they stand a very good chance of usurping RIMs position in the enterprise and beating Apple and Google to the punch. And with the unique licensing deals that Microsoft has with pretty much every major company, why would they consider buying licenses for things like Mobile Fusion or Good Technology when it will probably come in a nice bundle with other enterprise licenses.

Bottom Line:

Microsoft will most likely take RIMs place in the enterprise and be the 'business' device. Probably won't make significant inroads in the consumer world initially, but that doesn't matter when you have the enterprises all locked up.

Related Articles:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2406066,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03069TX1K0001121&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ziffdavis%2Fpcmag%2Fbreakingnews+%28PCMag.com+Breaking+News%29

http://techland.time.com/2012/06/21/why-microsofts-surface-unveiling-was-so-vaporous/

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2406066,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03069TX1K0001121&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ziffdavis%2Fpcmag%2Fbreakingnews+%28PCMag.com+Breaking+News%29

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/10267849

6 - Investors are itching for a sale

And why wouldn't they be? These must be the most patient investors in the world with all of the lines they have had to hear from Ballsillie and Lazaridis over the years about how everything is just fine. I some times wonder to myself what would have happened to RIM if they had been a US company with US investors, would they already have been sold?

Either way, with the stock prices on a downward trend and no visible proof that BB10 will save the day I would be looking for a sale too.

Bottom Line:

RIM has disappointed investors for too long and have just broken the last straw by not proving that BB10 will save the company. They want RIM sold.

Related Article:

http://business.financialpost.com/2012/05/31/rim-running-out-of-options/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+FP_TopStories+%28Financial+Post+-+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

7 - Stock price and Layoffs

With all the "Goodbye Thursdays" starting up at RIM it makes you wonder what is going to be left at the end of it all. They have already laid off a bunch of staff earlier on and they are now ramping up to chop another 6000 jobs. And of course a company acting in this manner to save on operating costs pretty much shows that they are not in a good place, so the stock will continue to dive, almost a viscious circle.

But what will be left at the end of the day? That's quite a bit of their workforce gone, how will they keep up with the development? How long will it take people to fill or cover the gaps and ramp up? It almost seems like a natural death where the body shuts down parts of itself bit by bit, protecting the core until the very end.

Bottom Line: 

Layoffs will continue, stock will continue to decline, sooner or later they will start reaching into their reserves and when the stock is at it's lowest point ever, they will be purchased. It is not possible for them to catch up as Apple, Google and Microsoft's resources surpassed it even when it was in good shape.

Related Articles:

http://www.therecord.com/iphone/news/article/746194--rim-layoffs-have-begun

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2012/06/20/rim-stock-layoffs.html

8 - Development

Going back to blackberry world, how many developers want to develop for something that they have never seen, but just have been told that it is easy to develop for?

Recent news says that there are just 5,000 alpha devices out there for developers to work with, so how exactly do they expect developers to ramp up and prepare for the launch of the first BB10 devices? How are we as consumers to expect great applications at launch that compare in any way with what is already on the other platforms?

I don't even think that with the promise of a guaranteed $10,000 for an app can bring in enough developers to develop for the platform in general, let alone before launch. Even not being a mobile developer myself you have to ask yourself how a company that isn't doing well going to fork over $10,000 to every app developer? It probably isn't, it is probably a deal that is so mired in red tape and process that you would be lucky to see any money from RIM. They can't afford to do it.

Bottom Line: 

There aren't enough alpha devices nor developers to make enough compelling applications to launch with BB10. I say they will have some big name apps (probably push Angry Birds and Cut the Rope), but nothing significant. Even if they manage to get some good quality apps, no one is going to want to leave the well established app stores of Apple or Google.

Related Articles:

http://mobilesyrup.com/2012/06/18/rim-has-seeded-over-5000-blackberry-10-dev-alpha-devices-to-developers/

http://m.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2012/may/04/rim-blackberry-bb10-development?cat=technology&type=article

9 - RIM partner defection

We heard news this week that Celestica, a company that I understand does a lot of manufacturing for RIM is going to phase out production entirely. Has anyone ever heard a company publicly say that they are distancing themselves from RIM? Some have said it is in preparation for the BB10 device production, but I don't believe that.

This is probably a decision based purely on numbers, and I would think that if the BB7 devices haven't been selling well, then Celestica wouldn't have to manufacture a lot. So if they are now seeing a deep decline in RIM with no hope of recovery, why wouldn't they try to move into other areas to guarantee continued revenue?

Bottom Line:

I believe that this is a trend, and as RIM continues to decline expect to see more defections (though I will be honest, I have no idea how many partners there are).

Related Article: 

http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/18/celestica-phases-out-blackberry-related-production-for-rim/

10 - Rumours that BB10 and Mobile Fusion are not enterprise ready

Now I haven't seen many articles about this on the web, but I have heard from people in the field that there are problems with IT Policies and encryption... but I have absolutely no details on that, so take it wait a grain of salt.

I also haven't seen anything online to indicate that they are true or not, but if it is true, this would be the last nail in the coffin.

Bottom Line: 

If enterprises cannot come to expect equal or better enterprise security from RIM, then BB10 is dead on arrival in the enterprise. They need this guarantee, and if they don't get it, it might just make this BYOD thing a great idea.

RIM needs a miracle

So

o... I seem to be writing an aweful lot about RIM, which is not what I had intended to do on this blog... but I can't help it, there is just so much news about it and I am sad to see them in their current state. I have worked with RIM so long and can hardly remember when I didn't have a Blackberry in my hand, I really do wish I could be writing with excitement rather than frustratio.
nk
So not too long after I had made my declaration of the RIM deathwatch, we get an earnings report from the company. Which includes:

• nkA significant decline in revenue
• Official delay on the first Blackberry 10 phones until the latter half of 2012
• co-CEOs now working on a $1 a year salary
• Assurances that they will beN turning RIM around once the new smartphones are released.ke 

Essentially things we already knew or expected regarding the decline in revenue and everything else we expected to hear with missed targets and more assurrances.

I am not even sure where to start with this because there really is no hope. Sooner or later all the RIM investors are going to be clamoring for Mike & Jim's heads on a pike and someone to get in there and give them value for their investments. Given that the QNX OS is  not even close to being mature that would lead me to believe we will inevitably see either a split in the company or the sale of it or it's patents.

I am flabbergasted... How can a company with the mountain of mistakes that have been made retain the same structure? Does anyone at all give 2 cents about the fact that the co-CEOs are going to be making $1 a year? The savings are peanuts in comparisons to the money that RIM will be bleeding in the next year or two. Also... does a $1 per year salary make the CEO's any less dilusional (since they will probably make it up in stock)? 

Speaking of delusional, why would anyone think that ramping up spending on marketing the Blackberry 7 platform is a good idea or would even change perception? Does anyone have faith that this will change anything at all? People need an ecosystem and a decent phone experience, I hardly believe that there is a phone store in the world that would be pushing Blackberry phones these days, particularily because of the requirement to lock people into 3 year data contracts. They don't have a plan, that much is obvious from the delays that they keep announcing, particularly the delay to the native e-mail for the Playbook... how hard is that? Everyone has lost faith in you RIM, you need to admit that there is something wrong and do something about it.

I don't think anyone can believe anymore that you can turn it around. You had a good opportunity to build the official iPad competitor, you were in at the right time with the right hardware but with no software or integrated experience. You could have stood a chance and shown the world how good QNX can be, but you rushed it to market as an incomplete product and blew it. Now there is far too much pressure on you to bring your saviour phone to market and when it does come to market, it will be too late. You haven't fixed Playbook, so what should make us think that you are going to have a capable phone with the same OS? The OS is immature and there is not enough time to catch up to the likes of iOS and Android. This next phone will be your make it or break it phone... if you want to stand a chance make sure it is 'actually' ready, just as good as the old ones, but on even footing with all the new smartphones. Anything less will be the last nail in your coffin, as sorry as I am to say that.

RIM Deathwatch

I didn't really want to make a complete post out of this, but reading through an article that Paul Thurrott had created got me thinking again how horribly doomed RIM is, especially now that they have reaffirmed their committment to the Blackberry Playbook. It's not that I don't like the Playbook, I think it is a fine tablet, I would actually buy it if it:

1. Weren't still $499 for a 16GB model up here in Canada
2. Was not 7", that's too small for me.
3. Wasn't made by a company that seemingly has no direction.

But considering how they are fairing currently, I can't help but think of the parallels between RIM and HP because it is almost as if they were both faced with the same choices and HP is the only one that made the right decision.

So you have HP who under Leo Apotheker who was committed to their mobile platform (WebOS) and spending quite a bit of money trying to build and market the HP Touchpad. It appears that he really did believe in the product, it's just to bad that the board didn't and felt that HP had veered off into many different directions and was not delivering on it's core products/services. This of course resulted in a new CEO and a company direction that essentially dismisses the HP Touchpad as a distraction with a fire sale on HP Touchpad inventory ($99 per device) which no doubt incurred a huge loss on each device. The decision was a surprise to everyone (especially considering they had spent so much money on ads with Russell Brand), but it is a decision that in the end that made sense. They have stopped bleeding cash an refocused the company on things that it actually should have been looking at.

Then you have RIM, the co-CEOs and the Playbook. They are guilty of the the same thing that Leo Apotheker was, which was basically to drop everything else and focus most R&D efforts into a tablet in order to compete with the iPad. This is very clear with their feeble attempt to try and market their new Blackberry OS, OS7 which is essentially a service pack for OS6 and their release of 'slightly' updated Bold and Torch devices running this OS. The big difference between HP and RIM is that there is no one on the board that can do anything to change the RIM as Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis are not only co-CEOs, they are also co-chairs of the board. So change in the company is very unlikely or you would have seen a new CEO by now or the abandonment of the Blackberry Playbook. RIM should have followed HP's lead and ditched the Playbook so it could take all of the money spent on R&D and use it to bring their first superphone to market.

It is really hard to be optimistic for RIM in light of these mis-steps:

• Announced Playbook 2.0 Delay: Which will most likely consist of some minor tweaks to the OS and a native e-mail, calendar and contact applications and NO Blackberry Messenger.  But to continue to have a devices with no native applications and depend totally on Android, Blackberry and Web applications does not look good. Who would pay $499 or should I say $199 for a device that does not have native e-mail, calendar, contact and other apps? And that is leaving selection of other applications completely out of the equation.
• Announced Blackberry Mobile Fusion: Which makes no sense to anyone. The stronghold has been traditionally the enterprise and the securability of Blackberry devices. The trend right now is to BYOD (Bring your own device) and if you could not secure them in anyway, the Blackberry would be the device of choice, at least for a little while longer. Mobile Fusion now allows enterprise IT the ability to secure competing devices alongside Blackberries and while it may not be 'as good' as a Blackberry I am sure that most enterprises will find it to be 'good enough'. If this software is ever released, the market share that Blackberry devices hold currently will plummit. But hey, they will be a leader in securing devices in the enterprise... there's always that.
• Announced a profit warning: They announced the profit warning on Dec 6th, which has everything to do with the recent price cuts to the Blackberry Playbook to reduce stock has some financial analysts slashing their price targets to as low as $10/share. The targets in general for the stock are trending downward and it seems that all the financial analysts agree with my opinion of the company currently.
• Drunken RIM Executives causing trouble on Beijing bound flight: This has nothing to do with their business problems, but certainly does not help promote it's image. The stunt resulted in a delayed flight for all passengers on board and a $71,000 fine for the executives.
• The 'Dingleberry' jail break for the Playbook: Not that jailbreaking is bad, but this certainly takes away from their reputation for having a 'secure' device. Developers have found what they deemed to be a 'Mack Truck sized' hole in the security of the devices that allowed them to 'root' the Playbook to obtain additional functionality. RIM just patched the flaw on Dec 6th, and the developers had a remedy to the patch available within hours of the release. 
• Announced the next version of Blackberry OS to be BBX without checking for trademark infringement: Not that this is a terrible thing, because it isn't. But you would think that a company that is trying to revitalize the OS and that is spending money on advertising the next version of their mobile OS would check to be sure that they could actually use the name. Now they jump from Blackberry OS7 to Blackberry OS10... what happened to the other 2 versions (OS8/9)? You know people are going to ask. This is more of an embarassment than anything, but it is just another piece of bad news to throw on the pile.

What I think we need here is a 'Steve Jobs' for RIM. Someone with vision to walk into the doors of RIM and make the right decisions to revive this dying brand. Unfortunately as previously mentioned, this would be virtually impossible to achieve the way the company and it's board are structured.

Here is an interesting Forbes.com article that asks all the questions that I would ask to Jim Balsillie and then some. It also showcases what appears to be either their 'default' corporate speak they use constantly to reassure or their actual delusional beliefs.

Is Blackbery Mobile Fusion an admission of defeat?

RIM has just recently announced that it will be including in it's Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) the ability to manage Android and iOS phones, something that up to this point has been key in making Blackberry 'the' enterprise phone as this is how the devices are secured.


Things haven't been going well for RIM, it was once the 'hot' stock, trading around $88.08 in November 2009 and is as low as $18/share thanks to many a bad decision and no feasible plan to turn that price around. I am not a trader and I don't write about RIM on a regular basis (that's probably obvious), but I am left wondering if RIM actually intends to turn things around or if this announcement is actually a backup plan.


I think they are planning for their eventual failure in the phone market as it doesn't really make sense to provide a tool that would allow big enterprise to use non-Blackberry phones. It feels like they are trying to grab on to something that would still keep them in the enterprise even if the Blackberry were to eventually fade away, and if that ever happened you would probably see some sort of Blackberry e-mail software for other devices akin to 'Blackberry Connect'. If it does work the way that I think it does and is implemented, you can almost guarantee that executives in every enterprise will be clamoring for the latest iOS or Android device, since securing the devices was the only thing preventing that in the first place. It will also almost guarantee that there will be a steady decline in RIM's phone market share. Maybe it is not as simple as that, perhaps they have somethng up their sleeves that would make using a Blackberry worthwhile.


But in order to turn things around, RIM would have to understand what is most affecting them and it doesn't seem that they do. I personally think what is most affecting them is a combination of what the anonymous high-level RIM employee had stated (stagnation and endless levels of bureaucracy) and R&D on a more capable OS on par with iOS.


Back in the day (pre-2007) most people thought that there could very few phones that could compete in RIM's space. I remember at the time, that I could either have the Blackberry or a Treo 650, though I did love PalmOS, it was not a phone that you could really rely on as it would crash regularly and the interface/device was clunky by comparison. My Curve 8300 on the other hand was stable, just started having multimedia features running on Blackberry OS4 which was wirelessly syncing my calendar, tasks and memos back to the Exchange server... who could compete with that?


Apple could, it took a little bit of time to get people to leave the comfort of rock solid e-mail, BBM and a physical keyboard, but they have done it. RIM has had more than enough time respond to the iPhone and here is how they chose to do it:

• The blackberry storm: Came out in November 2008 and ran OS5 and you had to physically 'click' the screen down for it to acknowledge a key press. Don't know what they were thinking, perhaps that only the touch screen made the phone?

• The blackberry storm2: Came out in October 2009 again running OS5 which still had the physical 'click', but not quite as bad as the first iteration. This is just a response to the unusable touch screen of the first storm and nothing more.

• The blackberry torch: Came out in August of 2010 the first device to run OS6 and the only touch screen blackberry that was ever 'like' and iPhone/Android phone.

So from June 2007 (the iPhone release) the best they could do for 1 year and 4 months is a device that almost everyone regretted buying due to the touch screen and general bugginess. It then took another 3 years to finally get a real 'hardware' answer to the iPhone but was was still no where close to competing with it in software.


With that being said and with all of the news of the last year, I am fairly positive that there is no clearly defined plan for Blackberry's future. In 4 years they have not figured out a way to make Blackberry phones compelling enough to buy or develop for.
After the iPhone initially launched the first thing they should have done was to figure out how a Blackberry device stands up to an iOS device. I am not sure who they had looking at it, but clearly the first thing RIM should have done was to speed up all OS development and try to create an ecosystem. Of course that is exactly what RIM didn't do and for whatever reason they decided only to mimic the device in hardware.
Software has been a disaster on the Blackberry and since the handset is only as good as the software running on it, it is no wonder people are choosing other phones. In terms of core functionality the Blackberry did it's job well and still provided e-mail to it's corporate users. But regular consumers are not going to be happy with just e-mail, they want their games, Facebook and Twitter in addition to their e-mail. This is where the disconnect begins because almost every consumer who has lived life on a Blackberry for a few years is blown away by what is possible on an iPhone (and Android) and it will most likely what they end up with when when they renew their contracts.


I have had a blackberry ever since the monochrome 957 (when it wasn't even a phone) and I have not seen any major improvements in the software over time, or at least not the type of changes you would expect would stand up to iOS and Android. It is the same display of icons, with the same standard blackberry applications (e-mail, calendar, tasks, memos). The Blackberry has only ever really gained the ability to play media and take pictures/videos other than that, it is fundamentally the same in most ways to Blackberry OS2 that ran on that 957. The only software that I have find to be worth mentioning in all of App World is:

• Nimbuzz
• UberTwitter
• Facebook (for every phone)
• File Scout
• Gmail
• Gmail Sync
• Opera Mini (a must for every blackberry, even OS6)
• Drive Safe.ly (don't ever use)
• Player for YouTube
• YellowPages
• Linked In
• Citrix
• Google Maps

Blackberry OS 4, 5, 6 and 7 are virtually the same with just UI fixes and social feeds, so there really isn't anything worth mentioning. RIM is just stalling by releasing it's latest Bold and Torch, there is absolutely nothing that makes them any different than previous versions (with the exception that the Bold for some reason has a touch screen).


So just to recap, since June of 2007, 4 years and 5 months ago all we have is a touch screen device running the same OS all blackberries have shared for years, only slightly better. I have deliberately neglected to mention the other devices and the distraction that is the Playbook, but with this much time between the debut of the iPhone and now, how can we expect anything to be different? All I expect is more disappointments and missed targets... possibly an acquisition.


I don't mean to be down on RIM, I was rooting for them for a long time but I am through hoping that they will come from behind and reclaim what they are losing. I can only offer up what I think they should do to come back:

• Shake up management. Put someone in charge that will change things up. The days of the CO-CEOs stating that everything is fine and that they have a plan are over.
• Split the blackberry devices into consumer and enterprise phones. If the problem is that you can't move fast due to the enterprise, create a consumer phone that is on par with the iphone to give you the time to upgrade the enterprise phones to the same level.
• Pause the Playbook. It is taking far too much time and attention when their core business is suffering. The iPad owns that space and RIM is too far behind application wise to even come close to being competition for it.
• Refocus on the OS for the device. Take all the focus that was placed on the distraction that is the Playbook and make a phone that competes with the iPhone or Android. Once the OS is finished, entice developers, give them a better deal than can be found anywhere else 80/20 or 90/10 the platform is going to be built on them. It should be easy enough that developers won't even blink an eye at wanting to develop for it and at the very least they should be #3 in the development order, the first 2 being iOS and Android.
• Build an ecosystem. Though they are trying with BBM Music, they are putting far too much focus into 1 specific Blackberry application. They should be building it into App World, where the store front is and emulating iTunes just like the Android Marketplace and the XBox MarketPlace (or whatever it is called) is doing. You want to give people the apps, music, video and everything else they need in one spot and you want to have enough content there to keep people interested.

But what do I know? I am but a humble tech employee.

Update: Here is an article not even 24 hours from the post describing their predicament (because of the playbook) http://m.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/rim-to-miss-targets-take-playbook-hit/article2257745/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=feedburner&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheGlobeAndMail-Front+%28The+Globe+and+Mail+-+Latest+News%29&service=mobile


Update2: Seems that CNN Money agrees with me: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/11/30/rims-new-motto-if-you-cant-beat-them-join-them/?section=magazines_fortune&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmagazines_fortune+%28Fortune+Magazine%29