[anthogag]

Haliburton wants to try something different and Apple probably gave them a sweet deal.

Apple, a company with $100 billion in the bank, can give things away to get the foot in the door.

I'm sure Haliburton lost a lot of attractive contracts over the years to competitors.

[anthogag]

I hope I didn't sound like a doubter. But, with no further comment to stir conversation, it seemed too much like a growing list of "chicken little" threads driven by FUD. Frankly, I'd be surprised if I didn't see RIM leaking some of their corporate customers. There have been OS6, OS7 devices -- both released with a shortage of apps and stability, plus little or no backward compatibility. BB10 is promised for late this year, but there's only the Playbook to hint at what features might be included and what apps might be available. And no guarantee that BB10 will be any more stable than OS6 or OS7 and requiring new phones to handle the OS.

When you compare iOS, there's a whole different picture. Each iteration of the OS is backward compatible several generations of hardware. Most of the apps don't lose compatibility. Security is improving for iOS. There are more heavy duty niche market developers for iOS -- if you want specialized apps, that's more likely on iOS than the other platforms.

Corporate users will be happier. There's greater familiarity, via friends, family or personal use. The corporate bean counters will be happier. No need to replace phones every time there's a new OS.

Having said all that, I still don't believe the sky is falling....yet. But the new management at RIM needs to get its act together.

Do you work in IT. Do you actually know what you're talking about

A lot of people in business have been using BlackBerrys for many years. There's great familiarity there as well.

I have an OS6 phone and there isn't a shortage of apps

Apple has become another choice for business. And with the amount of cash Apple is sitting on it can afford to make the transition to there phones look very attractive.

[berklon]

Sadly, this is happening more often in the enterprise.

Is there any way RIM can get these BB10 phones out any sooner? The pace at which they're losing customers is alarming, and a late 2012 release will do a lot of damage.

[kraski]

So, whenever the sky does completely fall, the fan base still will not admit it or recognize the event. They will step over fallen pieces of sky while blaming the litter on media bias.

Now, that brings up an interesting question (or two). Even if some of the events you mentioned are negative signs, does that mean that RIM is dead ala "The King is dead, long live the king."? With Android, iOS or both as the new king? Or does it mean RIM needs to get their backsides in gear? And, as much as I take all the BB fanboy stuff with a grain of salt, does that mean that the media is NOT biased? There's never been much doubt about the media's bias, except if they agree with one's own personal preferences and ideologies. The media will always side with whoever is going to keep them functioning and look for ways to create an uproar in other areas, to seem knowledgeable and relevant.

[SnoozerBold]

Haliburton? I've never heard of them? What do they do?

All kidding aside, this is bad news but not surprising at all. I hope RIM turns things around.
But I still like and am happy with their products and will continue to buy them.
Once again though I'm always shocked by the amount of people that show up here to point, laugh and say "I told you so!" About RIM and their product. Its just...well, weird how much delight some people take in it I'll never understand it. All well, it makes for some entertaining reading here on crackberry.

[dandbj13]

Apple, a company with $100 billion in the bank, can give things away to get the foot in the door.

Apple has become another choice for business. And with the amount of cash Apple is sitting on it can afford to make the transition to there phones look very attractive.

What are you implying? Are you saying that Apple is just going around, buying off businesses? How, exactly does that work? How do you see RIM's part in all this?

[ALToronto]

I bet the Anonymous guys can't wait...

[Thunderbuck]

I bet the Anonymous guys can't wait...

I've been mulling this story over all day, and this is pretty much the reaction I've landed on.

To be clear, this is a significant story, and however one might feel about "Big H", this is certainly the loss of a major customer for RIM.

I have to say, though, that Apple couldn't possibly design a better security test for iOS than to have it known that such a controversial customer was adopting it...

[i_hiker]

Halliburton and Apple are a good fit, helping the Chinese economy and supporting atrocious labor policies.

[sleepngbear]

From the TFTS article:



I mistakenly thought this might be of interest as it seems to represent a trend rather than an isolated event. I also thought the timing of the story was interesting since we are all anticipating the advent of 2.0 and BB10. It seems the enterprise sector is not as interested in waiting for the new hotness from RIM. I would expect RIM to be proactively selling RIM strongholds on the upcoming products. Either they are and it just doesn't matter, or they aren't and need to get on the ball.

Since this is not of interest to anyone, however, we can all just stick our fingers in our ears and repeat the mantra of how much we love our BB/PB.

Oh, the story is interesting enough. It's the fact that you enjoy taking every opportunity to come here, a BlackBerry forum, to crap on the brand every chance you get that sticks in our collective craw.

[dandbj13]

I have to say, though, that Apple couldn't possibly design a better security test for iOS than to have it known that such a controversial customer was adopting it...

Don't you think that every Apple-hating hacker and his brother have been hammering away at iPhone security from day one? Considering Thor's comments on the subject, if there is a major security breach in iOS, the investigation should probably start at RIM HQ.

[kraski]

Do you work in IT. Do you actually know what you're talking about

No. And yes.

A lot of people in business have been using BlackBerrys for many years. There's great familiarity there as well.

You could also say that a lot of people in business use and are familiar with dumb phones and feature phones. But the growth of Android and iOS is exponential. There's a focus that didn't used to be there.

I have an OS6 phone and there isn't a shortage of apps

And you can say the same for the 9800 August of last year? Go back and reread all the threads that complained loudly about that fact. To a lesser degree, there were similar complaints about OS7 when it came out. And just because there were always apps to handle certain functions, not all of them worked exactly the same. Anything that was used across the enterprise had to have an OS6 or OS7 update at the time the company was transitioning or it cost the company money to change software. Not a popular idea with the accountants. The more that happens, the more other platforms are going to look more attractive.

Apple has become another choice for business. And with the amount of cash Apple is sitting on it can afford to make the transition to there phones look very attractive.

You're right.

[Rickroller]

Halliburton and Apple are a good fit, helping the Chinese economy and supporting atrocious labor policies.

If you live in the States, I'd say your government is the biggest contributor to China..

So How Much Money Does The US Owe to China?

[thecsman]

While Samsung pokes at Apple in the consumer market with their funny ads, RIM regroups and works hard to make a comeback. We'll just have to wait and see how really secure an iphone can be, considering it can be jailbroken just by visiting a website. I guess the Halliburton people are going to have to lock the browser first. =)

There's not much we can do as BlackBerry supporters, besides the feedback Mr. Thorsten has asked us to provide. I hope they make a comeback with even better products.

[sinsin07]

I have no idea what the signs are that the sky is falling. Not so long ago, I would have said it was when the enterprise started dumping BB for another platform, or when all competitors produced a tablet with better email and PIM than RIM, or when countries like Indonesia prefer Android. Who knows? But it does concern me that, as we see these things cold-day-in-He!! type events happening one by one, the RIM fan community manages to convince itself that none of these things are important.

So, whenever the sky does completely fall, the fan base still will not admit it or recognize the event. They will step over fallen pieces of sky while blaming the litter on media bias.

LOL. Sounds just like webos fans.

Haliburton wants to try something different and Apple probably gave them a sweet deal.

Pure speculation. Where is your proof.

Apple, a company with $100 billion in the bank, can give things away to get the foot in the door.

Apple giving away something to Corps? Do you have any links to this claim?

I'm sure Haliburton lost a lot of attractive contracts over the years to competitors.

More speculation.
Let me correct that: "I'm sure RIM lost a lot of attractive contracts over the years to competitors."
Now that's something you can be sure about.

Do you work in IT. Do you actually know what you're talking about

Your confusion is evident. Never a good idea to try and pull the IT card trick.

A lot of people in business have been using BlackBerrys for many years. There's great familiarity there as well.

Yes, and it is apparent in the States that familiarity is waning.

I have an OS6 phone and there isn't a shortage of apps

Your definition of shortage shows a lack of knowledge as to what is available on other platforms.

Apple has become another choice for business.

The only thing you stated that has a ring of truth.

And with the amount of cash Apple is sitting on it can afford to make the transition to there phones look very attractive.

Still more speculation.

[alnamvet68]

Oh, the story is interesting enough. It's the fact that you enjoy taking every opportunity to come here, a BlackBerry forum, to crap on the brand every chance you get that sticks in our collective craw.

Thank you....could not have said any plainer myself. Good job!

[r.santa1]

How about when 2500 Halliburton employees shatter the glass front or back???

[dandbj13]

We'll just have to wait and see how really secure an iphone can be, considering it can be jailbroken just by visiting a website. I guess the Halliburton people are going to have to lock the browser first. =)

Perhaps these corporations heard about how easy it is to jailbreak the QNX OS as implemented by RIM, and is the underpinnings of BB10. Perhaps they figured that since all of them can be jailbroken, they have no reason to disallow the iPhone if that's what their 70,000 employees prefer to use. That's just speculation, of course.

I'm afraid that jailbreak knife is double edged and cuts both ways. You might want to weald it with a bit more care.

[grover5]

Perhaps these corporations heard about how easy it is to jailbreak the QNX OS as implemented by RIM, and is the underpinnings of BB10. Perhaps they figured that since all of them can be jailbroken, they have no reason to disallow the iPhone if that's what their 70,000 employees prefer to use. That's just speculation, of course.

I'm afraid that jailbreak knife is double edged and cuts both ways. You might want to weald it with a bit more care.

I don't think you are as objective as you claim to be. It feels more like you're picking a fight.

[jrohland]

I have been ready to dump my HAL stock for a while. If a company doing major business in China, Russia and the middle east is so lax about security that they think IOS is secure, they have some real incompetence in management.

[dandbj13]

I don't think you are as objective as you claim to be. It feels more like you're picking a fight.

I'm not sure what you mean by objective. I claim neither objectivity nor partisanship. Sorry if I misled you. This is an interesting and important news story for all tech geeks. This story does not belong to one community on one fan site. It affects everyone in the industry one way or another. When it is met by partisan jabs about iPhone jailbreaking, that is when I know it is not being taken seriously enough.

If RIM's response to all this really is, "Just wait until a security problem, and they will come crawling back!" then all hope is lost and the sky has already fallen. Let's hope RIM is taking this more seriously than it is being taken here.

Where's Kevin's take? I would think this developing story of corporate defection would be the sort of thing about which the leader of the Crackberry nation would opine. Stop trying to make it personal. This is not about me or how you feel about me. If that's what some of you are hung up about, go post somewhere else. This is news. Go start another thread about how much you love your berry in an appropriate category. Stop trying to derail and make personal, every news story you would rather ignore.

[kbz1960]

Wow, all companies gain and lose contracts every day.

[OniBerry]

It's just 4500 units...jeezus. Relax people.

[anthogag]

LOL. Sounds just like webos fans.


Pure speculation. Where is your proof.


Apple giving away something to Corps? Do you have any links to this claim?


More speculation.
Let me correct that: "I'm sure RIM lost a lot of attractive contracts over the years to competitors."
Now that's something you can be sure about.


Your confusion is evident. Never a good idea to try and pull the IT card trick.


Yes, and it is apparent in the States that familiarity is waning.


Your definition of shortage shows a lack of knowledge as to what is available on other platforms.


The only thing you stated that has a ring of truth.


Still more speculation.

You like the word speculation

Apple making their phones more attractive with discounts and free services is not illegal. They can do it because they can afford it

[dandbj13]

Wow, all companies gain and lose contracts every day.

It's just 4500 units...jeezus. Relax people.

When you put it that way, it makes the importance of the story seem minimal at best. But I don't think that reductionist assessment covers the bases. Apple does not depend on corporate contracts. 4,500 more iPhones is a rounding error for them. RIM lives and dies by corporate contracts. This is not just about the 4,500 phones. That number just cleans up the 70,000 they already lost from that company. That makes it a bit harder to marginalize.

Also, the fact that this is a trend rather than an isolated incident makes this important. I read about the corporate defections from RIM; I am not seeing the stories about new corporate contracts. Perhaps that is just media bias, but that is what I see. I hear about the PB getting special certifications, but not companies adopting it in any great numbers. If the story is skewed, and RIM is maintaining or growing their corporate clientele, please say so. That information would be relevant in this conversation, I would think.