A History Lesson from Fisher Radio (RIP)
The news that Blackberry is exploring options to sell the company or part of its patents reminds me of another corporation a long time ago: Fisher Radio. In both cases it came down to competition and keeping up.
Fisher Radio was once the darling of every audiophile. Celebrities, monarchs, and even politicians lusted after the Fisher brand. It was said that The Fisher was the finest audio equipment on the planet. Frank Sinatra, and others, including three Presidents owned Fisher equipment. Not one manufacturer, not Marantz or Scott or even McIntosh could reach the lofty quality of a Fisher. From 1937 to 1970, their products were the gold standard in quality audio components.
Then something happened.
The Japanese companies came into the market with cheap solutions that maybe were not the equal of The Fisher, but they brought innovation into the markes. Avery Fisher, who has his name on a concert hall, saw the writing on the wall. He sold the company to Emerson Radio and the rest is history. Emerson, and later Sanyo, who bought Emerson, tried to market Fisher products with Mr. Fisher hired as consultant. That didn’t last long. Before too much time, the Fisher brand was found on boomboxes and televisions. I imagine Avery was devastated.
Blackberry is in much the same situation. I imagine that the board has seen the handwriting on the wall. Hoping to see the brand continue, they’re looking at options. What will save Blackberry as a significant brand. That’s easy. Innovation and better products. I got tired of waiting for a new Blackberry in 2011 and bought my first iPhone. I really like the phone. It had tons of apps, even for my small country bank and the best music system in the world based on iTunes. I became a convert, but kept my Torch as a second phone. I waited more and nothing happened, so at renewal time, I bought an iPhone 5 and a z-10. The z-10 is amazing, but what do you do for apps? They’re just not there nor is music any better. Add to that the fact that the new Blackberrys seem cheap in comparison to the new Apple and Android offerings.
With $3.1 Billion of cash on hand, Blackberry will survive, but for how long?
The z-10 and Q-10 were just not good enough and horribly late to the market. I wish for great things in the future for Blackberry because I’ve owned seven of them and loved them all. I hope they don’t end up like Fisher Radio Corporation.