[kazza295]

Anyone else noticing the striking resemblances between the blackberry of today and the apple of the 90s. Apple and blackberry were both doing well and then both CEOs were fired(for different reasons obviously) and the companies then stalled and went close to bankruptcy with various replacement CEOs. After a large investment Steve jobs returned and turned apple back into a successful company. Rumours are that lazaridis will return under the large investment announced today. So could be it be a repeat? Could blackberry rise up once again?

I hope so

[Brutal Efficiency]

Mike will return? Where are these rumours?

BlackBerry Bold 9900; Q10; Z10 [BBM#6]

[garnok]

Anyone else noticing the striking resemblances between the blackberry of today and the apple of the 90s. Apple and blackberry were both doing well and then both CEOs were fired(for different reasons obviously) and the companies then stalled and went close to bankruptcy with various replacement CEOs. After a large investment Steve jobs returned and turned apple back into a successful company. Rumours are that lazaridis will return under the large investment announced today. So could be it be a repeat? Could blackberry rise up once again?

I hope so

maybe in couple of decade....same as apple...not in immediate future

[kbz1960]

Would be nice but we'll have to wait and see. I'm not sure bringing one of the bozo twins back is like Jobs but whatever makes ya feel better.

[jimpilot]

From your lips to God's ear

[pedrogari]

Anyone else noticing the striking resemblances between the blackberry of today and the apple of the 90s. Apple and blackberry were both doing well and then both CEOs were fired(for different reasons obviously) and the companies then stalled and went close to bankruptcy with various replacement CEOs. After a large investment Steve jobs returned and turned apple back into a successful company. Rumours are that lazaridis will return under the large investment announced today. So could be it be a repeat? Could blackberry rise up once again?

I hope so

Bla, bla, bla...

Posted via CB10

[cary709394]

BlackBerry certainly need to have a new CEO with experience and vision.

[Emaderton3]

Definitely some similarities. But, Apple was able to make a comeback with multiple hardware offerings and wasn't solely relying on one hardware product type.

I wonder if this decision was influenced by the strong cross platform debut of BBM or if it would have happened anyway?

Speaking of Apple. I am not going to diss them because I do use one of their products, and I know a lot of happy iPhone users. But, perhaps the time is coming for a BlackBerry surge since iPhone sales are a bit down. While Apple has added some small innovations to the new round of phones, they are hitting the "stale" product area somewhat. Most people I know who were interested in iPhones are opting for legacy devices and downloading the new OS instead of buying the new phones. Perhaps the cell phone market is setting up for a shift. Although, BB10 has not done well. So not sure if Z30 will gain much traction. However, with the success of BBM, perhaps the next round of BB10 phones will surprise the market since their may be an opportunity to do so.

Posted via CB10

[scorpiodsu]

How many times do we need to have this same conversation? OP, you are not the first one to say this. It's been all over this site for the past couple years. Is blackberry going to be like Apple? Or will they be like Palm? Who knows. They are blackberry and have their own fate. The market conditions and competition was different for each in their own events so one cannot easily draw parallels. Everything is not equal. Apple came out with new products that had no equal competitors to spearhead their turnaround. It didn't just happen. Unless Blackberry actually does something to initiate a turnaround, then it's not going to happen. They have to be their own catalyst. Not to mention the money Microsoft contributed to Apple (yes Microsoft) to get the government off their back. Please, stop it.

[Wiki Cydia]

Anyone else noticing the striking resemblances between the blackberry of today and the apple of the 90s. Apple and blackberry were both doing well and then both CEOs were fired(for different reasons obviously) and the companies then stalled and went close to bankruptcy with various replacement CEOs. After a large investment Steve jobs returned and turned apple back into a successful company. Rumours are that lazaridis will return under the large investment announced today. So could be it be a repeat? Could blackberry rise up once again?

I hope so

Two things. One, Steve Jobs wasn't CEO of Apple when he was fired. Two, the "large investment" you describe was well shy of $1billion, even if you adjust for inflation.

[tomcat23]

A past even cannot help us predict the future.
Apple performed a miracle but that doesn't mean that BlackBerry can perform one as well.
Secondly, Apple brought out completely new products to make that miracle happen. In the computer marker Apple is at best a niche player (sales are rising, but still not quite mainstream yet)
So for the OP's wish of a Apple copy, does he mean to say that BlackBerry would become a niche player in the mobile phone market and dream up some other products? If that was to happen, it's still bad news for us BlackBerry phones users.

Posted via CB10

[Poirots Progeny]

How many times do we need to have this same conversation? OP, you are not the first one to say this. It's been all over this site for the past couple years. Is blackberry going to be like Apple? Or will they be like Palm? Who knows. They are blackberry and have their own fate. The market conditions and competition was different for each in their own events so one cannot easily draw parallels. Everything is not equal. Apple came out with new products that had no equal competitors to spearhead their turnaround. It didn't just happen. Unless Blackberry actually does something to initiate a turnaround, then it's not going to happen. They have to be their own catalyst. Not to mention the money Microsoft contributed to Apple (yes Microsoft) to get the government off their back. Please, stop it.

Spot on.

BlackBerry is in a predicament that requires innovation and consumers lapping that up. However, the market is different now. Apple used a number of devices to cement a reputation and perception, in the minds of the consumer, that was cool and definitely cutting edge. At the time, BlackBerry execs were arrogant and insolent and look at it now.

How to reverse that? Innovate.

BlackBerry has bb10. Great. And? Who cares? Certainly not the consumer - as evinced by the poor sales.

BlackBerry needs more. I don't know what but I do know that the "buzz" around BlackBerry is that it's dead in the water and sinking fast. It's not a simple conspiracy - BlackBerry is burning itself. They tried to sell themselves and it looks as though BlackBerry is now a pariah.

Apple was NOT in that situation - and sure, MS had to pay, but that's a whole other thing.

Everyone I show my Q10 to can't believe how good it is - and what it can do. But hey, they all have istuff and androidthings and even a lot of wipones and that's that. They talk about apps - I say sideload - and they point out that if they wanted to buy something to fiddle around with: well get android and the best specced hardware. Bb10 isn't enough.

BlackBerry isn't in the same place as apple - they're down somewhere deeper and it looks like help is only barely there.

BlackBerry needs to get advertising and innovate with their handsets - this pedantic me too following nonsense has to stop. I understand economies of scale, and understand they may not get components at a preferential rate (why would they with their low sale rate and all the rest) but they need to do something. The Z30 is great - is it enough?

Stop comparing to apple. This company is BlackBerry and they are going to go their own way. I hope that way is up as falling any further is going to eventually lead to a break up of the company, or else a retraction from the consumer market - two things I do not want!!!

Posted via CB10

[Poirots Progeny]

Two things. One, Steve Jobs wasn't CEO of Apple when he was fired. Two, the "large investment" you describe was well shy of $1billion, even if you adjust for inflation.

Right!

Posted via CB10

[ghostface147]

The issue with Blackberry is that haven't done anything to create revenue outside of BB OS. They have no industry leading music store, no computer hardware revenue, no music players making them money, so worthwhile tablet, nothing at all of that nature.

Can they comeback and return to their status they had 3-5 years ago? No. Not a chance in hell. Can they comeback and at least maintain some stability, maybe.

[BlackBerry Guy]

If you really think about it, a lot of companies who are going down the drain follow a similar path. Few are able to come back from the brink. Just because there are perceived similarities doesn't necessarily mean BlackBerry will follow Apple's course. Could they? Possibly. Will they? Remain to be seen. Either way, the smartphone giant BlackBerry that we all knew, will not be the same.

[scribacco]

Definitely some similarities. But, Apple was able to make a comeback with multiple hardware offerings and wasn't solely relying on one hardware product type.

I wonder if this decision was influenced by the strong cross platform debut of BBM or if it would have happened anyway?

Speaking of Apple. I am not going to diss them because I do use one of their products, and I know a lot of happy iPhone users. But, perhaps the time is coming for a BlackBerry surge since iPhone sales are a bit down. While Apple has added some small innovations to the new round of phones, they are hitting the "stale" product area somewhat. Most people I know who were interested in iPhones are opting for legacy devices and downloading the new OS instead of buying the new phones. Perhaps the cell phone market is setting up for a shift. Although, BB10 has not done well. So not sure if Z30 will gain much traction. However, with the success of BBM, perhaps the next round of BB10 phones will surprise the market since their may be an opportunity to do so.

Posted via CB10

They sold 35 millions iphones last quarter, I dont know how you can say sales are down. In comparison the Z10 sold less than 2 million units in 9 months

[Emaderton3]

They sold 35 millions iphones last quarter, I dont know how you can say sales are down. In comparison the Z10 sold less than 2 million units in 9 months

I meant that sales of the new ones were a bit disappointing. The rate of people buying the next generation iPhone is decreasing.

Posted via CB10

[Poirots Progeny]

Did they sell 9 million, or something crazy, on the launch weekend? It was something like 5 mil for the iphone 5, last year.

Edit: sales might have been dissapointing for apple - they probably wanted 15 mil or something lol

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[heymaggie]

Blackberry resembles Palm much more. Once the developers and carriers stop their support then things go downhill pretty fast. Someone will eventually step in and buy the company for $3.2 billion dollars and try to keep the hardware going.

[GadgetTravel]

Anyone else noticing the striking resemblances between the blackberry of today and the apple of the 90s. Apple and blackberry were both doing well and then both CEOs were fired(for different reasons obviously) and the companies then stalled and went close to bankruptcy with various replacement CEOs. After a large investment Steve jobs returned and turned apple back into a successful company. Rumours are that lazaridis will return under the large investment announced today. So could be it be a repeat? Could blackberry rise up once again?

I hope so

Apple came back because they invented/optimized three very new types of product - the digital music player, the touch screen smartphone with lots of available software, and the digital music store. We aren't talking hub and flow we are talking new product classes. That is what saved apple. Can BlackBerry do that? Perhaps, but it isn't there yet.

Posted via CB10

[TgeekB]

I meant that sales of the new ones were a bit disappointing. The rate of people buying the next generation iPhone is decreasing.

Posted via CB10

Maybe the market is more saturated than in past years. Apple is nowhere near on a down slide, despite many here hoping for just that.

[opteron7]

Ha... not the same....

Posted via CB10

[Bold_until_Hybrid_Comes]

Please advise your numbers proving "BlackBerry is close to bankruptcy "

[scorpiodsu]

I meant that sales of the new ones were a bit disappointing. The rate of people buying the next generation iPhone is decreasing.

Posted via CB10

I'm sorry but where are you getting your information? They sold more iphones at their release this year than they did ever. The only model that people have been saying having disappointing sales is the 5C but the 5S is having no trouble. We can't mistake what our circle of friends do and say for what is actually going on. And anyway, that's another story. If people stop looking towards Apple what now makes BB next for them and not Android? Also all BBM does is allow iOS and Android users to stay on their platforms and still get the best thing that blackberry has to offer, not make them go to blackberry as a platform. It's more to a platform than 1 app.

[branch83wr]

The difference is that blackberry is competing in a market that is already well established. Apple basically created the insane consumer demand for smartphones... Blackberry is just trying to stay afloat. It also doesn't help that its new OS/phone line has tanked in the consumer market.

To be completely honest, if Blackberry were to pull even a 1/4 of what Apple has done in terms of a rebound it would be MUCH more impressive.