[guzprom]

I believe there are a few lessons to be learned by RIMM
1. apple vs micrsoft - microsoft went open source so-to-speak and let games and apps flood its platform. apple charges all developers and have thousand dollars applications,, Microsoft became the biggest and Bill became very rich.
2. apple vs all others - USB and firewire, steve jobs wanted a fee fir firewire monopoly. then USB became the standard since its free
3. Apple vs others (again but with newfound wisdom) - give itunes for free, then encourage cheap music. Similar concept is done for appstore charges $1 for most apps (unheard of even in microsoft's heyday). Then apple became king of cheap music and apps, of course making steve a very rich man.
4. apple vs android - Android came out of nowhere. then practically give everything for free so it beats all other platform in 1-2 years. (see a pattern?)
5. facebook vs all others - facebook include free "apps" then everything is history(frientster?, myspace anyone?)
6. RIMM vs itself - If rimm doesnt wake up and introduce apps for the masses cheaply, it will sacrifice its main income, hardware sales. It was bragging that it charges the most for each apps... (huh? haven't learn the lesson, i see..)

Learn from Microsoft, Learn from Apple who were beat up earlier and came back with the same strategy for a succesful platform/OS (cheap/free apps for the masses). dont try to get revenue from apps, but from hardware sales instead which is wheren 80pc of RIMM's profit come from anyway.
monopoly will not work. learn or perish.

[dbmalloy]

Great observations.... To add to following your points..... Outside of Siri ( which people are starting to get a hate on for) and is not a new concept.... what has Apple innovated lately.... All indications are the IPad 3 claim to fame will be better camera and double the resolution screen... Whoopee.... Maybe they will sneak the "next big thing" but doubtful....

Wall street has already taken a run at them for missing street projections... and it is a matter of time before investors don't buy into Apples famous "low ball" estimates on earnings... One of the reasons they wow Wall Street in the last couple of years....

Look how fast RIM fell... do not think it cannot happen to Apple.... just look at guzprom's great post as a roadmap to what might be.... Interesting how History does tend to repeat itself.....

[guzprom]

Thanks.. it's just sad how good companies miss such obvious cause of their slow downfall but still do not realize and still stick to the old strategy instead of fixing their weakness.. How long before apple and android fix their security issues and became as good if not close to RIMM? then what is the advantage of RIMM again? a keyboard? I hope patent for the keyboard can be renewed for more than just 7 years........
US govt has stated using iphones and ipads officially, halliburton.. then its just a matter of time... RIMM gotta fight back instead of being defensive in action and in words(media)..

[hurds]

bbtravel, bbm music, need for speed, bejeweled, tetris, modern combat, nova 2, Print to Go, DOCS to GO. Lets give RIM some credit, they give us plenty of high quality apps for free. Im sure there more but Im bored.

People want it both ways with RIM. Give us free apps and get tons of developpers.

I look at it like this, I bought the playbook at 200 so that give me a lot of money to put towards apps compared to if I had bought it at original prices. I'll like still only spend a tiny fraction of the 300 I saved.

[BB10BelieveIt]

Along the lines of free is better, how about:

7) cheap playbook's vs expensive tablets and crappy eraders: Sell ton's of playbooks at a really cheap price as a loss leader to
A) start a US turnaround
B) create userbase growth that starts building momentum for devs/apps and
C) helps them sell profitable phones, mobile fusion service plans, accessories
D) create a platform for QNX based bluetooth, NFC, wifi and LTE enabled consumer devices (like cars, alarm systems, appliances) that connect to any smartphone but do even better bridge-like things with BB's

(Got a little carried away)!

[Peritaxis]

Adobe created the .pdf format. Then it made Adobe Reader free. But programs to make .PDFs aren't. Now PDFs are pretty much a standard.

It sounds similar to iTunes, doesn't it?

For this strategy to work, RIM will need to make something we'll become terribly dependent on, not easily reproducible without certain software, and push it to the status of ubiquitous.

[guzprom]

The idea is simple really.. Lure dev with promises of riches. Subsidize if need be. Then when everyone is using your platform. Strengten ur other weakness. The idea of pdf is similar. User get it free first and foremozt. I'm more optimistic about Rimm now that there are new peopele with fresh perspectives and ideas.

[guzprom]

bbtravel, bbm music, need for speed, bejeweled, tetris, modern combat, nova 2, Print to Go, DOCS to GO. Lets give RIM some credit, they give us plenty of high quality apps for free. Im sure there more but Im bored.

People want it both ways with RIM. Give us free apps and get tons of developpers.

I look at it like this, I bought the playbook at 200 so that give me a lot of money to put towards apps

compared to if I had bought it at original prices. I'll like still only spend a tiny fraction of the 300 I saved.

Yes they subsidize pb which is a good start. But people want it both ways and will get it both ways. Thats the nature of competition. If Rimm won't perform someone else will. Rimm knows that. That's why they created playbook.... for people to be able to play and work.. Just doesn't work out that well with developers and users.

[guzprom]

Anyone have anything to add? I hope people from RIM can see this input and maybe benefit from this thread.

[plh121]

One word......advertise! I am so tired of the radio station pushing RIM's competition while I have never heard anything except negative remarks OTA concerning BB. "......unless of course you have a blackberry, then your just screwed." YES, the radio actually says that about my beloved blackberry.

[Chrisy]

I think they just need to advertise. They have good products with OS7 and the PlayBook.

Also, I think the wireless market is changing again. BlackBerry is making a comeback. I see it locally.

[Laura Knotek]

If I were RIM, I would not bother advertising the OS7 devices, since those most likely will not get any of the popular apps available for iOS/Android. Instead, RIM should spend that money offering incentives to developers to ensure those apps are available for BB10, and there is a sufficient app ecosystem at BB10's release (not "coming soon" or almost a year later).

Then release BB10 devices and launch a strong marketing campaign.

[guzprom]

Smart advertising is essential but substance also is needed.
@lak611: I agree completely, incentives for developers is key in the app/platform competition. A few poins I want to add.. Subsidize good developer by paying per download. Some dev started as hobbyist they love it as long as they can pay their dues. Increase portability and compatibility and ease for them. Allowing android is a great idea. Increase those android apps in appstore. Fast.. Sideloading is good for now but may developers since it is not a legal use and no income for them.

Aside from those. In hardware. Design of 9900 is nice and sleek. But battery and bricking is so not cool, they need to address them and not hush2 like now. Even apple antennagate is handled much better...
People forgive if you own up and not hide behind your ego. As long as you fix them.

[guzprom]

oh and one more thing.. Rimm should Never promise a release... It removes the suspense and only lead to disappointment if its not met..

[juliankueh]

Yes they should improve the battery for the 9900 and send us users a freebie.