A lot has been written, discussed and developed, so I will not dig into details here.
But with so many articles, threads or blog posts still spreading the usual "doom and gloom", I stepped back and tried to put my thoughts together. What are the global and main points I'm funding what could appear as "guts feelings" ?
1. They did it
We tend to analyze every little piece of information we get, as often as on a hourly basis. We echo the single unknown sourced material we can grab here or there. And this results into a
magma-tic blob where anything can be picked up as a signal of something happening.
Zoom out, back 2 years ago. For 90% of "the street", RIM was dead. Even the most optimistic bulls gave 30% chances Thor will keep BlackBerry alive, mostly due to some kind of "break apart" strategy.
BlackBerry is still here, in one single piece with a $3.1 Billion spoils of war.
Nothing is perfect, there have been delays, EPS is negative and stock price is down under the $10 mark.
But they're alive and kicking. That's a fact.
2. Devices are good
Yes, good. Not "leapfrogging the competition", not "the best you can find" but they at least compare to any best device in town.
They embed an new OS 100% BlackBerry and loaded with its DNA : reliability and security (privacy) to name few.
The UI is brilliant, 90% polished (that's HUGE for a 1st gen) and despite a learning curve that have to be addressed, those who use it just love it plain.
3. Platform vision is ... visionary
"Do different" is the best analogy (and friendly eye blink) I can find. Short : your mobile device is now your mainframe. As specs will raise in devices and OS 10.2 capabilities integrated (say "wireless HDMI" to point a single one), M2M (machine to machine) and the whole "platform" concepts will be proven true for Jims and Joes and, again, that's simply huge. "Cloud
data" V.S "Cloud
power" ... oh.my.gosh.
4. Enterprises will love it
At least with current large fleets, struggling to keep BYOD and MDM at a reasonable cost and at least "water resistant" (V.S BB "water proof") I have no doubt BES10 will be in the top 3 BYOD/MDM solution. Just a matter of time.
5. Marketing is brilliant
Yup, you read well. Because marketing is not promotion. Promotion is the - yet mostly important - "final touch" only.
The fundamental marketing point is : the offer. Let's sum up the BlackBerry 10 offer, sorted by customers attempts (witch is what allows to
define this offer). I'll name the first four (
my perception).
Joes :
- Social differentiator and tools (I'll be back about it below)
- Ease to use / sexiness
- Competitive pricing
- Reliability / Efficiency
Enterprises :
- ROI (in fact, we could stop here)
- Consistency (manage, deploy, upgrade, scale, maintain, repair)
- Trust (MTTF (mean time to failure), Company future (back on this later), certifications, partnerships)
- Users adoption
I believe both are very well served with BlackBerry current offer.
6. "The art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting" (Sun Tzu -
The art of war)
Short : when you cannot fight with your enemies on their field, gain positions (at low costs) where they are not (fighting for). From there, you'll get advantages that will strength your overall position and will enable the final attack. Don't go frontal, time is your friend.
This is what anyone could/should observe here. No "Strike back" no "Punitive revenge" no "blow up your a55". Instead, a methodical and surgical pawns placing. A chess game with 2 or 3 strokes ahead. Keep the queen (cash) safe until ...
BlackBerry Q10 TV Commercial, 'It's Time' - YouTube
... "It's time".
7. Turn your opponents users into prescriber and value contributors
This is probably what makes me the most confident. What BlackBerry is doing here is simply ... well I can't find a word strong enough.
Let's look at the competition #1 strength : they lock their users into an so-called "ecosystem". What will BBM (Joes) and Secure Work Space (Enterprises) do ? Just break it. Plain. Basically this means that these "platform locked" devices won't be anymore.
Hint ? Just figure BBM can offer online apps (a la FaceBook) or streaming contents (music, videos, ...). Do the maths now.
Now, there' two points I wrote I'll be developing further, theses are IMHO the main cons :
1. "Social differentiator"
I'll left apart the "tools"; although they can be upgraded there's no real trouble in this area.
The "differentiator" part is more challenging; While "BlackBerry" is still a very well known brand and recent operations have somehow refreshed its perception, there's still a lot to do to make it shine back as modern and trendy. Especially in the U.S.A, where BB is to appl/Samy what cathodic is to LCD. This is IMHO the biggest concern to gain this "hey, I sport a BB, datz kool" pride back.
I for one would like (after the RIM trashing) the whole identity to be re-branded. New color, new logo, new tone: The full monty.
2. "Company future"
IMHO, the biggest barrier to adoption for companies sits here.
I'm not a conspiracy theorist. But I believe competitors and some malicious traders (bears
using shorts) do know that perfectly. As long as BlackBerry future is linked to its stock value and the incredible shorting rate, some CIOs will put the foot on the brake. This has to change.
I for one would like BlackBerry to offer a join venture with selected partners. I may not have the same names in my head than those usually heard. I'd like to hear names like CISCO (because of the network) or SAP (for companies) ... and yes, definitely MS too (hint : why no BBM/SWS for windows ? It's not a technical obstacle).
I'm sorry both my English and available time do not allow me to go deeper, in a more academic way for each of these 7 points. Each would probably deserve a full page, including some cons (I'm no blind). But my overall perception sits above.
Have a good weekend folks :big-hug:, and stay cool below.
I do not pretend this is bullet proof, I'm not bullet proof either :rotfl:.
Just some cents as food for thought.
Did I bought shares ? Yes I did.
Am I scared sometimes ? Yes, I am.
Am I optimistic ? See my signature ;)