[Charmed Juan]

Take a look at this

Analyst warns Droid will hurt BlackBerry, Palm | Electronista

[Radius]

Take a look at this

Analyst warns Droid will hurt BlackBerry, Palm | Electronista

Again, as I've pointed out in the past, more competition means less market share for everyone. It's the nature of business. Of course if you're only one of three players in the world you'll have a huge market share, but introduce 5 more and everyone goes down.

And I was using the number three as an example only.

[Reed McLay]

Research in Motion was down about 5.8% on the news, but Google didn't even budge. In fact, it's down about 1.5% now. Motorola is up, a few cents.

Smart Phones are the new battleground. New players bring new ideas and new targets.

Research in Motion is currently the market leader in an exploding market place. That translates to huge gains for everybody.

[Dabrador]

Again, as I've pointed out in the past, more competition means less market share for everyone. It's the nature of business. Of course if you're only one of three players in the world you'll have a huge market share, but introduce 5 more and everyone goes down.

And I was using the number three as an example only.

Not true. In fact, there are MANY examples across MANY different industries where new entrants came into an industry and became the market share leader while current incumbents lost share.

There was a time when GM had over 50% market share. Over time, they lost that market share and eventually declared bankruptcy while at the same time, foreign manufacturers continually grew their market share.

Look at RIM. They entered a market dominated by Palm at the time. RIM's share continued to grow while Palm went south.

Android will grow market share over the next 5 years. RIM and Windows Mobile will lose market share. The reason? The smartphone will become more mainstream and will continue to attract the average consumer. RIM will become more of a niche player. DO NOT think this is a bad thing. Too often, business thinks that bigness means success. Look what happened to GM.

RIM is an EXTREMELY profitable company. They produce cash in droves. The best thing they can do is to focus on what they do best (hardcore business person) and stop trying to be all things to all people. That will be the downfall of Windows Mobile.

[WarningSLO]

If it pushes everyone to continue making better products with more features, I'm all for it.

[Phil325]

If it pushes everyone to continue making better products with more features, I'm all for it.

you said it, man. more competition = higher challenges to push out even greater phones (or whatever product you want to name). i say let's see what they can bring to the table. if not, i've still got my bold to tie me over for a bit.

[AngryChineseDriver]

The last two above got it right. I say we have Droids pushing even harder (downright shoving) against RIM and Apple (and the rest, I guess), so that the guys in Waterloo will get off their asses and release BlackBerries that actually "WOW" every time than adding GPS here, inverting bezel colours there.

[Hoochie-Coo]

Dabrador is correct in that many times, new competition will unseat the incumbent. But not always. Competition is good, and it remains to be seen if RIM can adapt. I think they are moving in the right direction but have some catch-up to play. In the end, I don't care. I will move to (or stay with) whatever is most effective for me. It really is that simple.

[BewitchedWitch21]

Since using the Droid, I have to say that any other smartphone will have competition. (Well, obviously, just in a common sense aspect). But I am not easily impressed with phones and the Droid was just awesome. The fact that I am still up and talking about this dumb phone that I used this morning should tell you something.

It really shocked me at the sheer speed of the phone. I was able to navigate so easily and get apps easily. I didn't have any lag time, I was able to just move around as much as I wanted when I wanted. It was a huge difference from my BB.