[lnichols]

I had meetings with a vendor of a product that part of the solution is an app on a smartphone, and another with a major federal contractor talking about biometrics/CAC cards for mobile computing authentication. I asked both about Blackberry support and the vendor said that they don't now and are worried about doing one because "RIM's future isn't looking great" and because their marketshare is so low. This is for a product made for Government use! The major fed contractor showing off biometrics on an iPad the response to Blackberry was they are tanking so they aren't looking into it. This is not good! The fact that developers and contractors who are delivering products for primarily to the US Federal Government are saying things like this shows how critical it is that RIM get BB10 to market and put tons of marketing into it. They also have to start changing the predominant message out there that is they are going out of business. My boss even asked me if they were going to go under earlier in the week.

I did tell the one vendor that they should try to convert the Android version of the app to a Playbook app and test it out, and explained that the new OS on the phones coming out will be able to run these too. He seemed interested in looking into it.

RIM you are about to lose a lot more US business from the federal sector because everyone thinks you are going out of business! You need to do something about this now! Maybe start seeding functional BB10 Dev Alphas in the Government for free, talking to major federal contractors and developers, etc. Get RIM reps out and about in DC showing off Fusion, show off working BB10 devices, etc. End of FY 12 funding spending sprees will start soon!

Sent from my BlackBerry 9900 using Crackberry App!

[jrohland]

Did you explain they have 78 million subscribers and growing? They have over $2B in cash and no dept? They are but 6 months from releasing a phone at the front line of mobile technologies? Or, did you tell them they should do a little research instead of listening to the Apple owned media?

RIM will not cease operations. They will become more agile. Yes they will likely have an operating loss this quarter. However, that is expected for an organization going through a total transformation.

The share price is based on misinformation and does not reflect the true state of the company. The loss of US customers is problematic but does not mean the death knell. It just means they have to become a smaller company.

All that said. I am very disappointed the marketing division does not appear to be doing anything. They need to get a hold of the message and turn the public perception around.

[sleepngbear]

What really, really frosts me about that low market share argument is the fact that the lowest numbers always being thrown around with respect to new phone sales have very little to do with how many people are currently using any particular platform. While RIM's share of sales is down around 5%, actual BB users are over 15% of all smart phone users. This is another example of how misleading the media can be with statistics, whether intentionally or not. Granted market share of new sales is an important measure of a company's performance, and RIM's falling share is unquestionably not a desirable trend for the company right now. But when companies and mobile developers decide not to provide apps for BlackBerry because of its low market share, I have to wonder how many of them realize they are dismissing 15% of potential users, not 5%.

Just for reference, as of January Android was 49%, Apple was 30%, WinMo/WinPhone was 4.4%, and Symbian was 1.5%.

[bk1022]

All the stats in the world don't really matter. If you tell people the next new product is coming soon then people are going to delay their purchases of YOUR product until the latest product is released. But if you then take too long to get to market, you will simply lose customers. This is why I keep on saying that RIM needs to let me know when their product is going to come to market and then actually meet that deadline. Maybe easier said than done, but too bad.

[jrohland]

What really, really frosts me about that low market share argument is the fact that the lowest numbers always being thrown around with respect to new phone sales have very little to do with how many people are currently using any particular platform. While RIM's share of sales is down around 5%, actual BB users are over 15% of all smart phone users. This is another example of how misleading the media can be with statistics, whether intentionally or not. Granted market share of new sales is an important measure of a company's performance, and RIM's falling share is unquestionably not a desirable trend for the company right now. But when companies and mobile developers decide not to provide apps for BlackBerry because of its low market share, I have to wonder how many of them realize they are dismissing 15% of potential users, not 5%.

Just for reference, as of January Android was 49%, Apple was 30%, WinMo/WinPhone was 4.4%, and Symbian was 1.5%.

Another failure of the marketing group. Although this happened before the current regime. You may recall Google Metrics would report BB devices as Apple. This problem went on for a long time. I believe CB Kevin told RIM it was happening and may even have tried to get Google to fix it. In the mean time, developers who use Google Metrics to estimate market share were seeing almost no BBs and more Apple than there should have been.

[Splange]

You have to remember though that developers and investors are looking at the future. So okay 15% market share is cool, but people replace old phones. And if BB sales are reducing, that means less new customers coming in, while old customers start moving on. People don't want to invest or develop for a platform that doesn't have growth, because they don't think it has a future.

And as for the stock issues being based on misinformation, that's simply not true. The stock price is falling because RIM is in a lot of trouble and their future looks uncertain. Despite their lack of debt and 2. something bil in cash, they will certainly have a hard time in the six months or so before bb10 comes out.

http://www.thestar.com/mobile/busine...ch-is-it-worth

http://m.crackberry.com/it’s-more-bl...-blackberry-10

I mean it's good to be optimistic, but too many people are acting like RIM's only in this mess because other people - investors, developers, consumers - are too dumb or brainwashed to realize how great they are. The truth is that RIM's negative publicity is a product, not the root cause, of their troubles.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9700 using Tapatalk

[lnichols]

I do what I can to counter misinformation when I hear it, but RIM should really be the one doing this, and it frustrates me that while they are opening stores overseas, they are doing nothing in North America to market against, counter, and just fight against what is going on. It seems like they are just writing off North America all together. Really disheartening knowing BB10 is coming and I probably do more marketing for RIM and BB10 via word of mouth than RIM does. They have a CMO now, so it is time for him to roll up his sleeves and correct this issue.

I'll probably send some communications to Alec Saunders, because he actually reads them and seems to care, provide him with names of these companies, explain what happened in this meeting, and how it isn't the first time I've come across, and suggest that he reach out, or have someone reach out to this company. Give them a Dev Alpha and a Playbook, let them see if the Android port works for the app, or explain how easy it is to develop for the BB10. But more importantly they have to work hard on the Federal Government in general because they are trying every way possible to get iOS and/or Android in use.