Accurate Summary of RIM''s Problems!
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This article hits the nail on the head about RIM's problems.
Research in Motion and the BlackBerry’s Rise and Fall : The New Yorker
Five years ago, Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, was one of the most acclaimed technology companies in the world. The BlackBerry dominated the smartphone market, was a staple of the business world, and had helped make texting a mainstream practice. Terrifically profitable, the phone became a cultural touchstone�in 2006, a Webster�s dictionary made �CrackBerry� its word of the year.
These days, it seems more like the SlackBerry. Thanks to the iPhone and Android devices, R.I.M.�s smartphone market share has plummeted; in the U.S., according to one estimate, it fell from forty-four per cent in 2009 to just ten per cent last year. The BlackBerry�s reputed addictiveness now looks like a myth; a recent study found that only a third of users planned to stick with it the next time they upgraded. R.I.M.�s stock price is down seventy-five per cent in the past year, and two weeks ago the company was forced to bring in a new C.E.O. The Times wondered recently whether the BlackBerry will go the way of technological dodoes like the pager.
The easy explanation for what happened to R.I.M. is that, like so many other companies, it got run over by Apple. But the real problem is that the technology world changed, and R.I.M. didn�t. The BlackBerry was designed for businesses. Its true customers weren�t its users but the people who run corporate information-technology departments. The BlackBerry gave them what they wanted most: reliability and security. It was a closed system, running on its own network. The phone�s settings couldn�t easily be tinkered with by ordinary users. So businesses loved it, and R.I.M.�s assumption was that, once companies embraced the technology, consumers would, too.
This pattern�of winning over business and government markets and then reaching consumers�is a time-honored one. The telegraph was initially taken up mainly by railroads, financial institutions, and big companies. The telephone, though it became popular with consumers relatively quickly, was first used principally as a business tool. The typewriter�s biggest users were offices. The Internet originated in the military-industrial complex, and first found an audience among academics and scientists. The personal computer, though popular with hobbyists early on, came to market dominance only once I.B.M. introduced models targeted squarely at businesses. Historically, new technologies have been very expensive�when phone service was introduced in New York, it cost the equivalent of two thousand dollars a month�and so early adopters have generally been companies that could make (or save) money by using them. (It�s telling that the biggest exception to the business-first pattern was television, where the business applications were less obvious.) In 2006, it looked to R.I.M. as if the story of the smartphone market would echo the story of the telegraph.
It didn�t. In fact, even as the BlackBerry was at the height of its popularity, we were entering the age of what�s inelegantly called the consumerization of I.T., or simply Bring Your Own Device. In this new era, technological diffusion started to flow the other way�from consumers to businesses. Social media went from being an annoying fad to an unavoidable part of the way many businesses work. Tablets, which many initially thought were just underpowered laptops, soon became common among salesmen, hospital staffs, and retailers. So, too, with the iPhone and Androids. They�ve always been targeted at consumers, and tend to come with stuff that I.T. departments hate, like all those extraneous apps. Yet, because employees love them, businesses have adapted (and the iPhone and Androids have upgraded security to make themselves more business-friendly). As a result, the iPhone and Androids now control more than half the corporate mobile market.
Consumerization has been disastrous for R.I.M., because the company has seemed clueless about what consumers want. R.I.M. didn�t bring out a touch-screen phone until long after Apple, and the device that it eventually launched was a pale imitation of the iPhone. Although the BlackBerry brand name was once seen as a revolutionary success, over time R.I.M.�s product line became bewilderingly large, with inscrutable model names. If you�re a consumer, do you want the 8300 or the seemingly identical 8330? And the BlackBerry�s closed system has left R.I.M. ill equipped for a world in which phones and tablets are platforms for the whole app ecosystem.
The consumerization of I.T. has deep economic and social roots and is unlikely to go away. Technological innovation has dramatically lowered the cost of computing, making it possible for large numbers of consumers to own powerful new technologies at reasonably low prices. (Apple�s products seem pricey, but despite the weak economy it has sold more than a hundred million iPhones and more than forty million iPads.) The workplace is changing, too. The barrier between work and home has been eroded, and if people are going to have to be constantly connected they want at least to use their own phones. Companies have quickly come to love consumerization, too: a recent study by the consulting firm Avanade found that executives like the way it keeps workers plugged in all day long. And since workers often end up paying for their own devices, it can also help businesses cut costs. One way or another, consumers are going to have more and more say over what technologies businesses adopt. It�s a brave new world. It�s just not the one that the BlackBerry was built for. ♦02-07-12 03:16 PMLike 0 -
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One cannot deny the consumerization of IT. One of my relatives was a BES administrator. The company he works for scrapped BES last year. They use iOS and Android devices only.02-07-12 03:29 PMLike 0 -
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I do not think most rational and thoughtful people are denying it. But you also cannot predict its outcome. There are always unforeseen trends and responses to trends that occur.02-07-12 03:45 PMLike 0 -
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I don't understand how these articles of genius get from this in one sentence:
to this in the next:
Say what??? I mean who cares? What's the big deal is about touching glass anyway?02-07-12 03:51 PMLike 0 -
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That is true. However, I see RIM getting in an even tougher spot once Microsoft goes full throttle with Windows 8, and Windows 8 smartphones/tablets hit the market.02-07-12 03:53 PMLike 0 -
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Another troll gleefully posting a negative article. Like cockroaches, they never seem to stop walking thru our house.02-07-12 03:55 PMLike 0 -
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the percentage of users have grown substantially, users moving from "dumb"phones to smartphones. The fact does remain that consumers weren't their priority - this still led to a growing base of users even to this day.
The problem is the market got bigger and I agree with the article about the consumerisation of I.T and RIM were left behind.
I don't understand the point of 8300 or the 8330. Differentiation is generally between CDMA and GSM and I doubt verizon will be selling both :P They're both exactly the same phone with a different radio chip - is it really that hard to comprehend?
I still think making the product lines clear is the way forward for RIM as well as getting BB10 right the first time regarding UI and essential features that made RIM famous.02-07-12 04:09 PMLike 0 -
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...and yet, BlackBerry 10 seems to be a radical departure from what this article is portraying. It's slick, modern, and consumeriffic (did I just make up a new word?)
Soon, the days when RIM was a sinking ship within moments of certain doom will be a reminder to us all that sometimes, you just gotta ignore the critics and drive on.02-07-12 04:13 PMLike 0 -
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The problem is it's lack of availability. RIM needs to get it released. By the time it's out, many more consumers will have moved on to something else. RIM made a mistake not having BB10 ready before Apple releases the iPhone5 this year....and yet, BlackBerry 10 seems to be a radical departure from what this article is portraying. It's slick, modern, and consumeriffic (did I just make up a new word?)
Soon, the days when RIM was a sinking ship within moments of certain doom will be a reminder to us all that sometimes, you just gotta ignore the critics and drive on.02-07-12 04:22 PMLike 0 -
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RIM's problem was that its taking them so long to bring out their new platform while at the same time hyping up the old one as something new while we wait. And its been the hyping up of the old while continually delaying the new that has left a lot of people with no confidence in RIM to actually deliver on the promise of the new platform, however great it may be.02-07-12 04:36 PMLike 0 -
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I think what they're saying is that to someone(average consumer) the similar numbers could lead to some confusion as to what the difference. You might be surprised how many folks don't know whether they're CDMA or GSM.
I don't understand the point of 8300 or the 8330. Differentiation is generally between CDMA and GSM and I doubt verizon will be selling both :P They're both exactly the same phone with a different radio chip - is it really that hard to comprehend?
I still think making the product lines clear is the way forward for RIM as well as getting BB10 right the first time regarding UI and essential features that made RIM famous.02-07-12 04:40 PMLike 0 -
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I still think this whole smart phone thing is a fad. I'm waiting for the return of CB radio.
10-4 big daddy.02-07-12 04:59 PMLike 3 -
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To clear a certain matter up. RIM does not have "problems", more so "issues"....
Problems need to be solved whereas issues need to be resolved. RIM is/was well aware of their issues, as they are currently adapting quite rapidly and providing an adapted strategic strategy for the future and are moving towards a resolve rather quickly . If RIM truly had problems, they would need to be solved first. 2012 would not look so promising if RIM would be "problem solving "....There were issues along the way which are quickly being resolved through some very rapid adaptation.
One common misconception is that RIM had no vision or innovation over the past 2-3 years....The truth is there was much vision and innovation, however the majority of it was/is being conducted on BB10. When we start to view the reality that BB10 won't only incorporate the consumer and enterprise market, but take a "bolder" move
, into the embedded market such as automotive OEM infotainment systems, serve the medical, aerospace industry etc...We begin to see a new paradigm where RIM is targeting QNX's existing clientele base as well as RIM's current clientele. Step back from the media for once and take an educated look at what's truthfully occurring at RIM.02-07-12 05:01 PMLike 0 -
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Do you have specific examples of this "vision and innovation" over the past 2-3 years? Were they finally forced to upgrade their browsers, and thusly aquired Torch? Yes. Was it a big improvement? Meh. It would've been better had they actually improved their hardware AT THAT POINT, instead of once again spitting out a 600Mhz processor in 2010.
Oh yes..we must'nt forget the big TAT aquisition. They were brought on board to re-design the new OS. But we've currently learned they actually played no part in that, and that project was outsourced to a different company (who actually called out TAT in an open letter to RIM). But they did give us a wonderful scrap-booking app..
http://forums.crackberry.com/news-ru...-heins-692371/
Bottom line is, I completely disagree..that RIM has been "innovating". To me, they've been scrambling, much like Tom Brady was in the final minute of teh SuperBowl. Sure..they've made a few key 3rd down's right now, and are slowly moving the ball forward..but only time will tell if and when they throw that "hail mary" pass when BB10 finally does get released, as to whether or not they've scored a touchdown.02-07-12 05:35 PMLike 0 -
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RIM needs to be more like Apple in this regard. Hype the current OS as the latest and greatest and don't talk about any new OS or improvements until the day you can release it.RIM's problem was that its taking them so long to bring out their new platform while at the same time hyping up the old one as something new while we wait. And its been the hyping up of the old while continually delaying the new that has left a lot of people with no confidence in RIM to actually deliver on the promise of the new platform, however great it may be.
Talking about BB10 a year before it can be released just instantly kills the market for your existing product line.
Seriously, RIM. When you buy a subsidized handset from a carrier, you are locked in for 3 years. 3 years is a long time to have a phone that doesn't have wifi hotspot, a front facing camera and can't run Skype or Netflix.02-07-12 05:58 PMLike 0 -
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Yep!!
As a developer, I was so frustrated today to see yet another demo of Cascades. They told us we would have it last Fall. Now they show it off again, and still(?!) don't commit to a ship date or even an open beta.
So the message is: "Look at all this cool stuff you will be able to do on your app when we ship this 'soon'. So don't start your interface design yet until you have all this cool stuff, because it's just around the corner..."
And then we wait months and months and months and still no Cascades. Meanwhile, we're not even trying to write the app using some other frameworks, because "it's coming soon!".
They need a new rule at RIM, do not demo *anything* that you are not absolutely certain you can ship within 6-8 weeks. Period. Otherwise you just wear people out and add to the general frustration.
Not to mention, you Osbourne your own revenue.Last edited by app_Developer; 02-07-12 at 06:06 PM.
02-07-12 06:03 PMLike 4 -
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This just drives me crazy! I bought the Playbook on launch day in April 2011. Then every 3 months for the last year I had to suffer through RIM demonstrating native email, calendar and contacts at some trade show with the promise that the public release is around the corner.Yep!!
As a developer, I was so frustrated today to see yet another demo of Cascades. They told us we would have it last Fall. Now they show it off again, and still(?!) don't commit to a ship date or even an open beta.
So the message is: "Look at all this cool stuff you will be able to do on your app when we ship this 'soon'. So don't start your interface design yet until you have all this cool stuff, because it's just around the corner..."
And then we wait months and months and months and still no Cascades. Meanwhile, we're not even trying to write the app using some other frameworks, because "it's coming soon!".
They need a new rule at RIM, do not demo *anything* that you are not absolutely certain you can ship within 6-8 weeks. Period. Otherwise you just wear people out and add to the general frustration.
Not to mention, you Osbourne your own revenue.
A year later, still no Playbook update but they are showing new features on how you can now use your Berry as a remote control to run your Playbook. I am fatigued from this .
Message to RIM: Showing prototypes with features that never make it to market, but your competitors already have, is a sure way to kill market share. Your loyal customers get worn out and end up buying iphones and androids.Laura Knotek likes this.02-07-12 09:25 PMLike 1 -
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So instead of reading someone's assessment (which honestly, is valid), you skipped to the bottom.
That's like going to the doctor because you found a lump. You ignored his words telling you to get it checked out by a specialist because you don't want to hear the possibility that you have a terminal cancer....so you pressed 'b' and skipped to the bottom.
Nice.
Look, it's sad that BlackBerry is in the shape they're in, but again, it's fact. Less phones are sold with a keyboard, fewer companies are sticking with BES and BlackBerry stock has plummeted because RIMM pressed 'b' and skipped to the bottom.
Facts, not fiction. Not opinion, either.
Press 't' and read the story.E92Vancouver likes this.02-08-12 11:41 AMLike 1
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