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"No, Never" is the correct answer. CrackBerry will be here for years and years and years and years and years and years and years and years to come.
Put it this way as a worst-case scenario.... even if RIM were to decide out of the blue today that they've had enough of the smartphone game and wanted to all retire, the amount of devices in-market already (think of people signing 2 year contracts in the last 12 months and people who are still rocking older devices, etc.) would still drive enough traffic/demand to justify the site being around for a longggggg time to come. I'm always surprised to see on a daily basis that replacement trackballs for the 8300/8800 series are still our #1 accessory seller in the store - it just shows that people keep rocking old phones. And heck, even if there was only one person in the world using a BlackBerry (me!) this site would keep going. It's part of my identity. Also, we're part of Smartphone Experts with a site for every platform, so the infrastructure to support the site will always be there no matter where smartphone demands ebb and flow. Want proof? Check out SPE's original start to it all.. visorcentral.com. It's still running... and we know what happened to the Palm Visor!
I do think RIM's future is more positive looking than say symbian or pre-hp palm, even though at the moment things seem a little more negative (stock price, etc.). They have more "hooks" that ensure they can whether the storm while they revamp to a new generation of platform (i'm not talking bb6 here, but beyond that looking into the years ahead. RIM still has huge enterprise presence, they have the killer app of "the keyboard" which BB is identified with and a lot of people will always demand/want, and they have strong brand recognition. They are accelerating their growth in foreign markets still and in those markets have data plans that work in BB's favor. They have BBM. RIM is basically selling more devices per quarter right now than they did in a whole year going back to when this site was started a few years ago. And you have to remember, compared to the competition they are still the favored/dominant "communication tool." Where they need to improve still is on the multimedia/app side of the equation (browser too, but BB6/WebKit should really address that), but as a pure out communication/productivity tool for all the shakers and movers out there, BB still hasn't slipped at all. The people who rely on it, continue to rely on it and will do so in the future. They may also pick up an iPad or iPod touch or something like that to have in addition to their BB to have the no-compromise best in class of everything, but they can't give up their BB. But I do think with where the competition is and the demands of the consumer are and going, that RIM's continued success will have to extend beyond being an awesome communication tool. They know this and are working on it. It would be nice if they could move faster, but they'll continue to sell fairly big numbers until they get there, even if the stock gets pounded for a bit and the news reports are on the negative side for a few more quarters.
I guess time will tell the RIM story, but back to the original topic of this thread, fear not, CB will be here for a long, long, lonnnnng time.
07-01-10 02:05 PM - "No, Never" is the correct answer. CrackBerry will be here for years and years and years and years and years and years and years and years to come.
Put it this way as a worst-case scenario.... even if RIM were to decide out of the blue today that they've had enough of the smartphone game and wanted to all retire, the amount of devices in-market already (think of people signing 2 year contracts in the last 12 months and people who are still rocking older devices, etc.) would still drive enough traffic/demand to justify the site being around for a longggggg time to come. I'm always surprised to see on a daily basis that replacement trackballs for the 8300/8800 series are still our #1 accessory seller in the store - it just shows that people keep rocking old phones. And heck, even if there was only one person in the world using a BlackBerry (me!) this site would keep going. It's part of my identity. Also, we're part of Smartphone Experts with a site for every platform, so the infrastructure to support the site will always be there no matter where smartphone demands ebb and flow.
I do think RIM's future is more positive looking than say symbian or pre-hp palm, even though at the moment things seem a little more negative (stock price, etc.). They have more "hooks" that ensure they can whether the storm while they revamp to a new generation of platform (i'm not talking bb6 here, but beyond that looking into the years ahead. RIM still has huge enterprise presence, they have the killer app of "the keyboard" which BB is identified with and a lot of people will always demand/want, and they have strong brand recognition. They are accelerating their growth in foreign markets still and in those markets have data plans that work in BB's favor. They have BBM. RIM is basically selling more devices per quarter right now than they did in a whole year going back to when this site was started a few years ago. And you have to remember, compared to the competition they are still the favored/dominant "communication tool." Where they need to improve still is on the multimedia/app side of the equation (browser too, but BB6/WebKit should really address that), but as a pure out communication/productivity tool for all the shakers and movers out there, BB still hasn't slipped at all. The people who rely on it, continue to rely on it and will do so in the future. They may also pick up an iPad or iPod touch or something like that to have in addition to their BB to have the no-compromise best in class of everything, but they can't give up their BB. But I do think with where the competition is and the demands of the consumer are and going, that RIM's continued success will have to extend beyond being an awesome communication tool. They know this and are working on it. It would be nice if they could move faster, but they'll continue to sell fairly big numbers until they get there, even if the stock gets pounded for a bit and the news reports are on the negative side for a few more quarters.
I guess time will tell the RIM story, but back to the original topic of this thread, fear not, CB will be here for a long, long, lonnnnng time.
^^ I win. ^^
07-01-10 02:19 PM
