[raino]

I can see a lot of effort and thinking was put in by the OP. I really liked reading it. I'm not sure about the MVNO idea, though. Unless MVNO isn't the term you want to use...?

I don't know about Europe, but at least in the US, MVNOs have pretty thin margins. I would assume the same is true in places like Asia, where you may not have contracts and carriers are competing on service costs. Couple low margins with partnership/leasing (which is why I'm not sure MVNO is the right term--if they're going to be run off VOIP and internally managed data as you're suggesting, what's the need to partner up?) marketing, etc. costs and the little amount of cash left, it would be a huge gamble.

Plus, given the recent cross platform BBM debacle, I'm not sure I trust RIM's infrastructure to handle the tremendous load that such a venture would bring. And how would carriers that RIM has a relationship with react to this?

[anon(4141156)]

Great article. Posts like this are what CrackBerry needs, and us BB fans need to read. Lets hope that whomever ends up with BlackBerry, has smart guys like this on their team. I have always thought that with BlackBerry the sky is the limit because of what they are, and what the competition is not. Go BlackBerry, or RIM!!

Thanks wout000.

[Anonymous2039]

Good read. I don't know if Balsillie would even want to go back to RIM. Apparently he hasn't spoken to Lazaridis since he left the company and has cut all ties with it. (Wonder if he still uses a BlackBerry even?)

Posted via CB10

[aaakratish]

Man! Awesome ideas. People like you should be BB consultants. Great research and great ideas. God knows if this can ever be a reality.

[anon(1464249)]

Great read OP... I completely agree with you on all of it... TAT should be left loose on all GUI emanating from BB. I saw some of their work on you tube and they have potential to single handedly turn around BB's fate

Some demo's and maybe some small meddling in the OS overall but other than that TAT influence is nowhere to be found. I'd say give them the BlackBerry apps and have at it. They might concoct something weird but at least they're working. Judging by their previous work I'm sure they can add the necessary eye candy some users love.

its the apps that killed the BB. people do more than text and email nowadays. MVNO will never work this will only shrink the BB market

The apps, noted. no MVNO, noted. It's really fun to see users come to a conclusion and then elaborate immensely on how they got to that conclusion... care to do just that?

wout000,

Thank you for the post, your time and work; you have a lot of really good ideas in it. To bad you are not working for BlackBerry, they could use some one like you...!!!

I really like your mindmap.
I took a screen shot and enlarged it, you covered a lot.
Great job.

Yes I say bring back Mike Lazaridis and Jim also..!

I agree with you on there marketing, it has been a mystery for me and you really made a statenment that hit home with me because I have wondered about this. " The biggest marketing opportunity of the year presented itself in the hardest market BlackBerry is competing in. The NSA scandal in America was an opportunity of epic proportions. "

I listen to a talk radio show and the host George Noory was talking to the guest about how the NSA was setting poor encryption standards for companies in the US so that they are easer to hack and he was wondering if they were behind the negative influence in regard to BlackBerry in the US.

Your post is one worth saving to be reread on occasion...!

The return of Mike and Jim is my own view of how I'd try and revive BlackBerry. If it will hold up in real life, I can't be sure but considering their history together and with the right management to sometimes shake them up and point them to the trends on the market I can see this working.
The NSA conspiracy theory is just that, a conspiracy theory and whether this is accurate or not, we will never know. What we do know, is that they dropped the ball on reacting to the NSA scandal, big time. Here you have a company that made it's business pretty much on security and when security on mobile devices is being questioned worldwide, they stayed silent. This alone is reason enough to kick Boulben out of his chair.

"I'm just saying that the iPhone was an immensely popular product and no amount of BlackBerry devices would have been able to compete against it at that time"

Of course RIM couldn't compete at that time because they stuck with their old devices and were too late in the game. They had the resources to do it at that time. Had RIM taken Apple seriously and launched a full fledged touchscreen in late 2007 or early 2008, the first version could've been so so but the second version after tweaking would have likely been a success and developers would've been willing to create apps for the RIM ecosystem. Had RIM developed the touchscreen earlier and launched the Z10 in early 2012, I have no doubt the Z10 would have been a runaway success with the top Apps to boot.

As far competing with Apple after 2007, Google managed to capture a bigger market share with the help of course with a plethora of manufacturers

So no offense, but this was supposed to be an exercise to see what it would take to bring back the glory days of BlackBerry. This was not supposed to be BlackBerry vs iPhone. Just keep that in mind.
that being said, nobody had the right answer to the iPhone at the time so stop pointing fingers to BlackBerry. Google with Android got lucky cause it was picked up by a ton of manufacturers for the prize of 0 USD and the hardware it could run on was minimal. So cheap hardware and cheap OS is what made Android what it is today, it wasn't because they got the answer to the iPhone, it was because it was cheap.

I can see a lot of effort and thinking was put in by the OP. I really liked reading it. I'm not sure about the MVNO idea, though. Unless MVNO isn't the term you want to use...?

I don't know about Europe, but at least in the US, MVNOs have pretty thin margins. I would assume the same is true in places like Asia, where you may not have contracts and carriers are competing on service costs. Couple low margins with partnership/leasing (which is why I'm not sure MVNO is the right term--if they're going to be run off VOIP and internally managed data as you're suggesting, what's the need to partner up?) marketing, etc. costs and the little amount of cash left, it would be a huge gamble.

Plus, given the recent cross platform BBM debacle, I'm not sure I trust RIM's infrastructure to handle the tremendous load that such a venture would bring. And how would carriers that RIM has a relationship with react to this?

MVNO is exactly the term I wanted to use. They need infrastructure so they can get 3G/4G connections and the rest is pure gravy. When they transform into an MVNO they can easily hook into the RIM infrastructure and route traffic that way. Think about it. No roaming costs, first of it's kind, a true global phone without the extra costs or need to switch SIM's. Their margins might be small but MVNO's exist all over the world and they do make a profit. Bring in an expert, work out a plan, execute.
Their infrastructure can always be expanded, new switches, location software can reroute your traffic to the switch with the lowest latency for optimal speed and quality. The sky is the limit. They have everything in place already to try this on a lower scale.

Their relationship with carriers is already in the toilet. Rogers a Canadian company and supporter of RIM already said they won't be carrying the Z30. Dealing with AT&T always makes a mess, etc... Besides an MVNO needs partnerships with carriers so it's a win-win.

Great article. Posts like this are what CrackBerry needs, and us BB fans need to read. Lets hope that whomever ends up with BlackBerry, has smart guys like this on their team. I have always thought that with BlackBerry the sky is the limit because of what they are, and what the competition is not. Go BlackBerry, or RIM!!
Thanks wout000.

Thanks for the compliment. Let's hope indeed they surround themselves with professionals and try to reboot this company instead of selling it in pieces.

Good read. I don't know if Balsillie would even want to go back to RIM. Apparently he hasn't spoken to Lazaridis since he left the company and has cut all ties with it. (Wonder if he still uses a BlackBerry even?)
Posted via CB10

I admit, getting Jim back is a bit tricky considering why he left but I don't see why you can't just ask him. There's a great pride in being asked back to save the company that once reigned supreme under your watch...

Man! Awesome ideas. People like you should be BB consultants. Great research and great ideas. God knows if this can ever be a reality.

Thanks. It might, let's just stick to that.

[anon(1464249)]

Here's an interesting article, I highlighted the important parts...

Microsoft has crappy devices; BlackBerry doesn't and never has. Microsoft put out some snappy commercials showing what its tablet can do and Apple's (AAPL_) iPad apparently cannot. The ads made people laugh, but they failed to sell Surfaces. In fact, Microsoft spent more money marketing and writing off inventory than it made in tablet revenue.

BlackBerry, as Davis's Tweet nicely illustrates (she has a way about her), started this whole smartphone craze. Apple didn't. Apple just came along and kicked Blackberry's *** while James Balsillie was busy failing to bring a National Hockey League franchise to Southern Ontario. BlackBerry will never recover to the extent that it overtakes Apple; however it can do better.

Davis is hardly alone in her love for that QWERTY keyboard. As an iPhone 5 owner, I have even given the new BlackBerries a look. The one with the keyboard. Unlike Microsoft, RIM doesn't need new, different or better devices. This next generation is good. It just has to stop trying to be everything to everybody. It has to cease futile efforts to compete with Apple. And it has to play to its strength.

I see the company marketing to folks who love the physical keyboard. But it also feels a bit like People are holding out for this style of phone from us and, once we get it out there, they'll come back in droves. Not sure. BlackBerry needs to find a way to make a unique push, remind people of what got them hooked on their smartphones in the first place and, more importantly, deal with the droves of us stuck in two-year contracts we could, with the right deal, be lured away from.


--Written by Rocco Pendola in Santa Monica, Calif.
Rocco Pendola is TheStreet's Director of Social Media. Pendola's daily contributions to TheStreet frequently appear on CNBC and at various top online properties, such as Forbes.

Source: A Sexy Celebrity Endorsement for BlackBerry - TheStreet

Mike knows this... Bring the Lazaridis back!

[sinsin07]

Here's an interesting article, I highlighted the important parts...

Not really

• "Microsoft has crappy devices; BlackBerry doesn't and never has."

Storm, Storm 2, Torch

• BlackBerry, as Davis's Tweet nicely illustrates (she has a way about her), started this whole smartphone craze. Apple didn't. Apple just came along and kicked Blackberry's *** ...

So what. When a real contender showed up Blackberry couldn't match it.

• "It just has to stop trying to be everything to everybody. It has to cease futile efforts to compete with Apple."

The fixation on Apple is strange considering the pressure it is receiving from Android.

• "BlackBerry needs to find a way to make a unique push, ...

Obvious

• "remind people of what got them hooked on their smartphones in the first place and,"

It would appear people are already hooked on their smartphones. What do they need to be reminded of?
Take a walk out into any major city at lunch time.
What the comment should of read is "Blackberry needs learn why people today are hooked to their smartphones and why the left Blackberry"

[Javid Gozalov]

Oh snap, by far one of the lost interesting threads I've read in a while! GJ OP. This is amazing. Great detail.

Posted via CB10

[trsbbs]

Jim and Mike split ways long before they both left BlackBerry.
Not sure they would work together again.

So then you would have only "Dumb" without "Dumber"..

They had their time. Thor has had his time. Next?


Posted via CB10 on my Verizon Z10. 10.2.0.1725

[anon2100101]

Wonderful to read! Unfortunately I have any contact to this area of business- therefore I have doubt about my capability to have a "correct" opinion to your analysis. But my common sense and my observations confirm your point of view.... As I said in a lot of other threads: Heins is just a plain bookkeeper and Boulben a narcistic and uninspired mummer... They are lightyears away from the passion of Lazaridis and Balsillie. I dont know if these "dinosaurs" could be the needed cure for BlackBerry, but I "know" (better "feel"), that Heins and Boulben are to parochial to be the head of a global player like RIM/BlackBerry!

[xanadome]

The wheels on this thing started coming off a bit about 4 years ago (conservatively). Prior to that these two built a company that was very successful so saying it never worked in the first place is simply not correct.

The brilliance that made RIM grow so rapidly in essence was Mike L's invention of 2-way paging system. People/enterprise loved it as the era of of emailing was exploding. Push email was a must, and BB provided it. After that, BB rode its wave of explosion. Jim's B's roll was a sales guy, coming from an obscure construction company, and Mike L wanted to concentrate on tech side of the business, and he too was super lucky in riding this wave. Almost anybody with a decent business experience could have made the same accomplishment, or even better.

But when the real change came (a sea change, challenged by Apple), the real ability of the management was tested, and they failed miserably. They were too complacent in a small town Waterloo, and did not want to see any changes in their comfy life, perhaps even in denial.

If I were to compare either one of these evil twins to the ability of Steve Jobs, for example, I would say Mike L, having proper engineering knowledge, to make a proper prediction and see into the future so much better. Unfortunately, he either did not have time, or an ability, to translate his vision into the reality. It was other executives" tasks. But alas, he did not have them. BB's lack of depth of management talent was quickly exposed when the change happened, and they have to respond quickly.
They need somebody, a mover & shaker, perhaps from outside. hey, Steve Ballmer is going to be available soon! (bad joke, I know :-)

Now the Heins & Company keep talking about "mobile computing (BB is a single product company)" or "strategic alternatives" and other vague and empty nonsenses like that, but a real "strategic alternative" is to grasp what the market really wanted, and produce "that"magic product, not busy calculating the amount of the severance pay etc.
BB10 obvious was not. They probably should keep improving on the Z10 to be in the same market as Apple is in. But they have to drop the Q10, and create a super Bolds, or else transfer the legacy core functions and UI onto the BB10m platform. Using the Q10 is fine for that purpose.
They are too busy trying to hide from the reality, by discussing "going private" etc.

[Skatophilia]

I feel like i've been here before....

[anon(1464249)]

Oh snap, by far one of the lost interesting threads I've read in a while! GJ OP. This is amazing. Great detail.
Posted via CB10

Thank you.

Jim and Mike split ways long before they both left BlackBerry.
Not sure they would work together again.
So then you would have only "Dumb" without "Dumber"..
They had their time. Thor has had his time. Next?
Posted via CB10 on my Verizon Z10. 10.2.0.1725

Please do enlighten me with your insight as to why, how and when Jim and Mike split up. I'm curious cause you seem to know something nobody does.
They had their time, yes. They made the company thrive and maybe made it faulter. Thorsten did what he knows best and that's comparing numbers. I suggest to bring them back temporarily as to bring stability to the company and their expertise.

Wonderful to read! Unfortunately I have any contact to this area of business- therefore I have doubt about my capability to have a "correct" opinion to your analysis. But my common sense and my observations confirm your point of view.... As I said in a lot of other threads: Heins is just a plain bookkeeper and Boulben a narcistic and uninspired mummer... They are lightyears away from the passion of Lazaridis and Balsillie. I dont know if these "dinosaurs" could be the needed cure for BlackBerry, but I "know" (better "feel"), that Heins and Boulben are to parochial to be the head of a global player like RIM/BlackBerry!

Heins wasn't ready and I think he knows now. Boulben has just gone AWOL since he got assigned as CMO.

The brilliance that made RIM grow so rapidly in essence was Mike L's invention of 2-way paging system. People/enterprise loved it as the era of of emailing was exploding. Push email was a must, and BB provided it. After that, BB rode its wave of explosion. Jim's B's roll was a sales guy, coming from an obscure construction company, and Mike L wanted to concentrate on tech side of the business, and he too was super lucky in riding this wave. Almost anybody with a decent business experience could have made the same accomplishment, or even better.

But when the real change came (a sea change, challenged by Apple), the real ability of the management was tested, and they failed miserably. They were too complacent in a small town Waterloo, and did not want to see any changes in their comfy life, perhaps even in denial.

If I were to compare either one of these evil twins to the ability of Steve Jobs, for example, I would say Mike L, having proper engineering knowledge, to make a proper prediction and see into the future so much better. Unfortunately, he either did not have time, or an ability, to translate his vision into the reality. It was other executives" tasks. But alas, he did not have them. BB's lack of depth of management talent was quickly exposed when the change happened, and they have to respond quickly.
They need somebody, a mover & shaker, perhaps from outside. hey, Steve Ballmer is going to be available soon! (bad joke, I know :-)

Now the Heins & Company keep talking about "mobile computing (BB is a single product company)" or "strategic alternatives" and other vague and empty nonsenses like that, but a real "strategic alternative" is to grasp what the market really wanted, and produce "that"magic product, not busy calculating the amount of the severance pay etc.
BB10 obvious was not. They probably should keep improving on the Z10 to be in the same market as Apple is in. But they have to drop the Q10, and create a super Bolds, or else transfer the legacy core functions and UI onto the BB10m platform. Using the Q10 is fine for that purpose.
They are too busy trying to hide from the reality, by discussing "going private" etc.

Let's not compare. I agree they need a visionary, someone with a lot of knowledge of the industry and has some courage to take a risk.
Bringing back Jim and Mike would be temporary and would bring stability to the company, not to mention their expertise and inside knowledge.

I feel like i've been here before....

Welcome back.

[mset]

Google with Android got lucky cause it was picked up by a ton of manufacturers for the prize of 0 USD and the hardware it could run on was minimal. So cheap hardware and cheap OS is what made Android what it is today, it wasn't because they got the answer to the iPhone, it was because it was cheap.

Thanks for taking the time to put the OP together. Interesting read, and I agree with parts of it. I definitely disagree with the above, though. I don't think luck had anything to do with it. I think the people at Google made a brilliant strategic decision and then executed on it.

Very interesting to learn that Boulben joined the firm in June 2012.

Did you read the recent long Globe and Mail piece? It suggests that Mike and Jim left for reasons other than the fallout from the $250MM scandal.

[xanadome]

Very interesting to learn that Boulben joined the firm in June 2012.

A person (or people), who has been facing an opponent often picks a proponent from his own circle. Doing nothing and keeping quiet is a great service to such a person (or people) <grin>.

[raino]

MVNO is exactly the term I wanted to use. They need infrastructure so they can get 3G/4G connections and the rest is pure gravy. When they transform into an MVNO they can easily hook into the RIM infrastructure and route traffic that way. Think about it. No roaming costs, first of it's kind, a true global phone without the extra costs or need to switch SIM's. Their margins might be small but MVNO's exist all over the world and they do make a profit. Bring in an expert, work out a plan, execute.
Their infrastructure can always be expanded, new switches, location software can reroute your traffic to the switch with the lowest latency for optimal speed and quality. The sky is the limit. They have everything in place already to try this on a lower scale.

I guess what I was trying to get at is would they even need MVNO partnerships to run an entirely VOIP (and WiFi) based network? I know of one MVNO here in the US that has a somewhat similar setup--Republic Wireless--but they have a partnership with a CDMA carrier whose network is a fallback (i.e. when VOIP is not possible.) So if you don't need a carrier, are you really an MVNO? (Semantics, I know )

Their relationship with carriers is already in the toilet. Rogers a Canadian company and supporter of RIM already said they won't be carrying the Z30. Dealing with AT&T always makes a mess, etc.

Well, I guess the direct sell is a step to counter poor carrier support. But RIM's online presence is easily trumped by carriers' websites+stores, advertisements, promotions, etc., some of which on paper do help RIM indirectly (like AT&T's "buy a smartphone for $99" promotion, which included the Z10 as well.)

[Jerale Hoard]

Here's how it should be: RIM + QNX = BlackBerry

RIM can be the R&D department

QNX can be the software department

I think BlackBerry should stand as is.

Posted via CB10

[lnichols]

Mike is a smart guy. Jimmy B is a used car salesman at best. His outlandish and often factually wrong statements to the media are a major reason that BlackBerry has such little credibility. He should never be brought back to the company. Also BlackBerry has never been successful in marketing, they just sold themselves in the pre iPhone era because they were the best smartphones available and carriers pushed them. As soon as that stopped happening BlackBerry did not know how to market to the end users because they had never done it before, they just knew how to market to carriers. Also Jim B was doing the CMO duties prior to Thorsten's installation of Frank.

Posted via CB10

[Blacklatino]

Is it me or do some members take this whole "smartphone" thing to serious.......Is it really that serious, there is much much more to life...SERIOUSLY

LOL. True.

[bambinoitaliano]

Assuming OP is 100% correct in his vision. With current management team in current condition, do they have the capability to even make the right decision to go that route. Do they even care at this point where the faith of the company lies? If BB is sold to FairFax, does PM has the will and capability to execute such elaborate rebuilding of RIM? This is only from the perspective of someone who knows and care about BlackBerry/RIM. What if Samsung, Google or Cisco bought BlackBerry, these companies probably have a very different vision what they want to do with BlackBerry. I'm afraid as good as the plan looks, it's a bit too little too late. However, it's really a good perspective from the OP.

[Djlatino]

Despite how much I agree with OP, one thing I would like to point out is that the identity of RIM was never good once touch phones hit the market.
Java lag, inconsistency of the OS and so much more no longer had mercy.
Now I know you're going on a more, vast scale with RIM overall (NOC, BBM etc.), Dumbing it down to their basic product; Blackberry Phones is what really needs to come into play.

Though the message of bringing the dinosaurs back is much appealing, it lacks the insight of moving forward, thus where I agree with the current mindset Thor has. How he's executing it is horrible.

Great post OP, we needed something like this to get posted to give people a broader mind to the whole crisis rather than "BB is dead". I was going to post something along the lines of Section 3 (this is what got me going, I was crossing my fingers you would touch on the topic) but I couldn't of said it better myself.

[StoicEngineer]

wout000, Nice analysis. A great lot of thought was put in, I see.

I agree with most of it.

However, based on the recent spate of Globe & Mail articles and Kevin Michaluk's comments in Vector 13, it sounds like there was significant in-fighting among the senior managers; Thorsten Heins, Mike Lazaridis, & Jim Balsillie, before 2012. These "distractions" may account for the lack of focus and lack of decisive decision making that led to new product misadventures (Playbook) and new product delays (BBOS7 replacement). Hence, until this is better understood, it is hard to support a return to the "old school" completely.

As a Technological Leader; Mike Lazaridis certainly has a place at the RIM you propose. Similarly, Jim Balsillie would be better suited than the present incumbent for Marketing and a rebirth of the company.

My quibble is that there would still be the need for a strong, consummate CEO to provide focus and to control the ego clashes that seemed to have led to the current state of the company. This may be the more difficult task. [Listening to the January 2012 CBC video with Thorsten Heins shows that his expression of the needs and direction of the company were correct. The subsequent execution seems to have failed.]

[mset]

does PM has the will and capability to execute such elaborate rebuilding of RIM?

Absolutely, unequivocally not. PM would be the first one to tell you that. For goodness sake, he's not a tech guy! He's a money manager.

This is the issue that the hopeful around here can't grasp. For Blackberry to exist going forward as a maker of handsets, there's one thing that's needed above apps, quad core procs, better ads, or anything else. That's new leadership.

Problem is, it's next to impossible to magically fill the top spots with the right people, and certainly not in time to right the ship. That's the main reason that BBRY is unlikely to go forward as a consumer phone maker. And unfortunately, I don't think Mike and Jim are enough.

[robhenry24]

Here's how it should be: RIM + QNX = BlackBerry

RIM can be the R&D department

QNX can be the software department

I think BlackBerry should stand as is.

Posted via CB10

JH, I am very interested in QNX, one does not see it mentioned very often; I agree with you...!
QNX seems to be some what of a mystery yet it is what the PlayBook and BlackBerry 10os is built on.

[anon(1464249)]

,

Thanks for taking the time to put the OP together. Interesting read, and I agree with parts of it. I definitely disagree with the above, though. I don't think luck had anything to do with it. I think the people at Google made a brilliant strategic decision and then executed on it.
Very interesting to learn that Boulben joined the firm in June 2012.
Did you read the recent long Globe and Mail piece? It suggests that Mike and Jim left for reasons other than the fallout from the $250MM scandal.

I did read it, I can't comment on it as I don't know the exact reasons of their departure, I'm just guessing.
Google had a strategy with Android and they had the backing of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of several heavyweights in the industry. Combined with the fact that they offered it for free and released it under the apache license (free to modify) it was a handset manufacturers dream. Fact remains that it's an inferior OS in regards to BB10. They however had the money and manpower to rapidly evolve the OS, something BlackBerry lacks. They reacted swiftly, while BlackBerry retreated and started working on BB10 in the shadows, another snafu...

I guess what I was trying to get at is would they even need MVNO partnerships to run an entirely VOIP (and WiFi) based network? I know of one MVNO here in the US that has a somewhat similar setup--Republic Wireless--but they have a partnership with a CDMA carrier whose network is a fallback (i.e. when VOIP is not possible.) So if you don't need a carrier, are you really an MVNO? (Semantics, I know )

Well, I guess the direct sell is a step to counter poor carrier support. But RIM's online presence is easily trumped by carriers' websites+stores, advertisements, promotions, etc., some of which on paper do help RIM indirectly (like AT&T's "buy a smartphone for $99" promotion, which included the Z10 as well.)

VOIP relies on having a connection to a network. When there is no WIFI available (let's say on the road) you need a 3G/4G connection to initiate a VOIP call. You need cellphone towers.

They finally started the direct sale of BlackBerry's. FINALLY. However once again, not a lot of effort is being put in it. The sale pages are looking extremely gloomy and dark, there are no incentives to buy via direct sale,....it's just not appealing.
I can't for the life of me figure out why the BlackBerry website is shrouded in darkness. I find it very unappealing to purchase something off the BlackBerry website. Compare this with other websites and you get a crisp clear view and some explanation of features instead of a list of features and technical b*ll nobody besides tech geeks care about.
Get some color on that website. Like this nice blue you get.

Here's how it should be: RIM + QNX = BlackBerry

RIM can be the R&D department

QNX can be the software department

I think BlackBerry should stand as is.

Posted via CB10

QNX needs to go. I don't mean the software, but the name. Rebrand QNX to BlackBerry OS and suddenly you have tech blogs and car manufacturers and others talking about devices being powered by BlackBerry OS. This is in fact a no brainer, yet grossly overdue.
Pushing BlackBerry in subsidiary form and safeguarding just about anything valuable in the RIM holding will guarantee the continuity of the BlackBerry OS and patent licensing, BBM service, etc...

If there's a sick component, you isolate it so it doesn't infect the good parts and try to get it healthy.

Mike is a smart guy. Jimmy B is a used car salesman at best. His outlandish and often factually wrong statements to the media are a major reason that BlackBerry has such little credibility. He should never be brought back to the company. Also BlackBerry has never been successful in marketing, they just sold themselves in the pre iPhone era because they were the best smartphones available and carriers pushed them. As soon as that stopped happening BlackBerry did not know how to market to the end users because they had never done it before, they just knew how to market to carriers. Also Jim B was doing the CMO duties prior to Thorsten's installation of Frank.
Posted via CB10

Partly agree. Jim does come off as a bit of a weirdo and he did shock the press at a regular basis with some of his views but you can't deny the fact that he was a key element in building the BlackBerry business from scratch. He was the one behind the big push of BlackBerry. The last couple of years he has grown more outlandish as you so eloquently put it, because his services were no longer playing a big part in the company. The company now has been thrown back to it's early days marketwise and so my suggestion to bring him back is mostly funded on his work from the early days. The tandem cooperation between him and Mike (if this is even possible at this time) could be what BlackBerry needs to start their "reinvention".

To everyone following this thread, I do mean bring Jim and Mike back in the BlackBerry structure and not the RIM structure!

LOL. True.

This isn't about smartphones, this is about a business. My job is basically to recreate a businessplan of a failing business and get them profitable again. Of course in much more detail and with far more financial and inside knowledge.
This is merely a quick write up meant as an exercise on my part and a vision to think about on the part of every user following this thread.

Assuming OP is 100% correct in his vision. With current management team in current condition, do they have the capability to even make the right decision to go that route. Do they even care at this point where the faith of the company lies? If BB is sold to FairFax, does PM has the will and capability to execute such elaborate rebuilding of RIM? This is only from the perspective of someone who knows and care about BlackBerry/RIM. What if Samsung, Google or Cisco bought BlackBerry, these companies probably have a very different vision what they want to do with BlackBerry. I'm afraid as good as the plan looks, it's a bit too little too late. However, it's really a good perspective from the OP.

We can assume that the current executives lack this vision according to their actions so far. However if the Fairfax deal holds up I have no doubt that Prem Watsa will swiftly replace the current board. I truely hope he surrounds himself with able consultants for this task. If and when a company like BlackBerry gets sold to a company in the same industry you can be damn sure the company will be stripped of any valuable assets and dissolve over time. The only valuable assets BlackBerry currently holds are their vast portfolio of security patents. The failing hardware and software business will be stripped to it's bare minimum. Hardware will dissappear and software will be reallocated to ensure continuity with others (car manufacturers, etc...).

Bringing in the structure that I proposed in the original post will allow BlackBerry to survive and return to a profitable status. This of course is a rough estimate as I haven't put any serious work in crunching the numbers or look at their overhead.

Despite how much I agree with OP, one thing I would like to point out is that the identity of RIM was never good once touch phones hit the market.
Java lag, inconsistency of the OS and so much more no longer had mercy.
Now I know you're going on a more, vast scale with RIM overall (NOC, BBM etc.), Dumbing it down to their basic product; Blackberry Phones is what really needs to come into play.
Though the message of bringing the dinosaurs back is much appealing, it lacks the insight of moving forward, thus where I agree with the current mindset Thor has. How he's executing it is horrible.
Great post OP, we needed something like this to get posted to give people a broader mind to the whole crisis rather than "BB is dead". I was going to post something along the lines of Section 3 (this is what got me going, I was crossing my fingers you would touch on the topic) but I couldn't of said it better myself.

Bringing back RIM wouldn't affect much BlackBerry users in a negative sense and wouldn't bring a lot of negative press with it. Nobody remembers RIM and if they do, they won't associate the BlackBerry negative press to it as long as you keep the BlackBerry subsidiary in play. Transforming RIM into the services and holding company I suggested in the original post will bring along positive sentiment and will provide for continuity (word of the day). BlackBerry must indeed 'dumb down' their scope to only their core product which is the BlackBerry phone, all the rest should be transferred into the holdings company and managed by others.

wout000, Nice analysis. A great lot of thought was put in, I see.

I agree with most of it.

However, based on the recent spate of Globe & Mail articles and Kevin Michaluk's comments in Vector 13, it sounds like there was significant in-fighting among the senior managers; Thorsten Heins, Mike Lazaridis, & Jim Balsillie, before 2012. These "distractions" may account for the lack of focus and lack of decisive decision making that led to new product misadventures (Playbook) and new product delays (BBOS7 replacement). Hence, until this is better understood, it is hard to support a return to the "old school" completely.

As a Technological Leader; Mike Lazaridis certainly has a place at the RIM you propose. Similarly, Jim Balsillie would be better suited than the present incumbent for Marketing and a rebirth of the company.

My quibble is that there would still be the need for a strong, consummate CEO to provide focus and to control the ego clashes that seemed to have led to the current state of the company. This may be the more difficult task. [Listening to the January 2012 CBC video with Thorsten Heins shows that his expression of the needs and direction of the company were correct. The subsequent execution seems to have failed.]

Agreed. He did express his sentiment about the needs of BlackBerry put did an extremely poor job at executing them. He got his chance to play in the big leagues but unfortunately for himself and BlackBerry, he wasn't ready. I agree that the new CEO will need to be someone with a lot of determination and the right vision. It's easy for any potential CEO's to look at BlackBerry and start dreaming of chopping it up. BlackBerry needs a CEO that will keep it together and reinvent the entire company.

Therefor I propose that Jim and Mike return to the BlackBerry subsidiary and that a new CEO is appointed to the RIM holding company. In my (humble) opinion this scenario has the most chances of succeeding. Get Mike and Jim back to their pet project and let someone else handle the day-to-day at RIM and it's viable services. No need for Mike or Jim to meddle in those affairs.

Absolutely, unequivocally not. PM would be the first one to tell you that. For goodness sake, he's not a tech guy! He's a money manager. This is the issue that the hopeful around here can't grasp. For Blackberry to exist going forward as a maker of handsets, there's one thing that's needed above apps, quad core procs, better ads, or anything else. That's new leadership.
Problem is, it's next to impossible to magically fill the top spots with the right people, and certainly not in time to right the ship. That's the main reason that BBRY is unlikely to go forward as a consumer phone maker. And unfortunately, I don't think Mike and Jim are enough.

Prem Watsa is indeed not the right guy for the job. He is an investor and as such can oversee some of the finances but he can't be tasked with leading a technology company, nor do I have the feeling he wants to.
The transformation will be time consuming but that's why breaking the company up in a holding structure and subsidiary will be beneficial.
The debate about top specs is another one to be had and merits it's own thread. I will however comment on it briefly.
BlackBerry doesn't need top of the line specs, it doesn't need quad cores and 64-bit processors. What it needs is an optimized OS to run on affordable middle class hardware that performs every bit as good as the top class but at middle class prizes.

The biggest mistake BlackBerry has made over the years is provide people with middle class devices at premium prizes. Something that worked beautifully and was a steady source of income, until Apple, Samsung, Nokia and HTC smartphones came along. They were able to offer top class devices at middle to premium prices. They still haven't learned. Offering the Z30, which is a device with middle class hardware at today's standards for a premium prize.

I have no doubt in my mind that the Z30 works every bit as good as the latest quad core phones on the market thanks to it's optimized OS but you can't justify selling it at premium prizes, you just can't. That's the fundamental flaw in BlackBerry Inc. and that's what's causing the decline. I paid full retail price on my BlackBerry (600+ euro) because subsidized phones aren't the standard in Belgium. Some weeks later the prize dropped to 350 euro + a 50 euro cashback. Which I would say, is the correct prizing of this phone free off contract. This ludicrious prize setting is what is causing the switch of some and the decline in sales. Nothing more, nothing less.