1. Yoox_II's Avatar
    And common misconception of RIM and Blackberry is that they are low on money...the problem is that they are having trouble in the north American smartphone market, not a money issue. RIM brings in huge revenue every week/month from markets in other countries.
    Since RIM makes so much money and has so much money to spend, I think they should start hiring people in Canada, BlackBerry's home country, to assemble the smartphones and playbooks. Foreign assembly lines have proven lower-quality a lot of the time. Not ALL of the time, but too often in my opinion. Plus I think people in the US and especially Canada would enjoy seeing a "made in Canada" imprint on the back of the device. In school, it is a common discussion in some of my classes when we get off track about where certain products are made. Cellphones come up very commonly. Just by listening to them I noticed that they all wish that their clothes, smartphones, cars etc. Were made in canada or the US. It seems to be a growing trend, in young adults anyway, of caring where products are assembled.
    Bottom line, I think that BlackBerry's should be made in Canada to improve RIM's image in a small yet important way. Apple's assembly factories have high suicide rates which disgusts me...an extremely rich and profitable north American company using foreigners to build their electronics in dismal, depressing factories.
    RIM, use your money to restore your image, bit by bit.
    Just my opinion
    05-19-12 10:15 PM
  2. Laura Knotek's Avatar
    The two BlackBerry devices I owned were North American made. Both were made in Mexico.

    Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express
    05-19-12 10:18 PM
  3. amazinglygraceless's Avatar
    Just two (2) quick points:

    1) Having had BlackBerry devices, as well as others, from all over the map, I have yet to notice
    any material differences in quality.

    2) Following your logic, you are advising RIM to double, triple, maybe even quadruple its labor
    cost and by extension negatively affect it's bottom line for the sake of taking a (pardon my
    expression here) pie in the sky moral high ground.

    There is a reason these companies have manufacturing and other services elsewhere. Reduced
    labor cost, reduced ancillary benefits, almost no labor unions to have to deal with, and the list
    goes on.

    I for one am good with this.
    Laura Knotek likes this.
    05-19-12 10:28 PM
  4. Laura Knotek's Avatar
    I agree with amazinglygraceless.

    I had no issues with the build quality of my BlackBerry devices, nor with the build quality of any other electronic devices I've owned, no matter where those devices were manufactured or assembled.

    Sent from my Lumia 900 using Board Express
    05-20-12 12:27 AM
  5. anon(375378)'s Avatar
    They have a location in Irving, Texas as well.
    05-20-12 12:51 AM
  6. cevag's Avatar
    It would be awesome if they manufactured the bb phones in Canada but it comes down to being competitive with the market price and obviously making a profit.

    All or most major company do this, heck even bell Canada has their call center over seas. A call center!
    05-20-12 01:19 AM
  7. Mamaluka's Avatar
    I feel like I'm in the twilight zone here...there are Canadian made BBs. I've owned a couple BBs that said 'Made in Canada'. So why is this thread here? Did RIM shut down the Canadian factory?
    05-20-12 02:02 AM
  8. apengue1's Avatar
    I think really old ones were made in Canada. Now I believe they are made in Mexico and Malaysia. Obviously for profit reasons
    05-20-12 09:45 AM
  9. bdguru's Avatar
    I have had 3 BB devices. My 8330 and 9330 were made in Canada. My 9930 came from Mexico. I don't have any issues. It was cool to have Canadian version tho. Nice phone ey!

    Sent from my VZW 9330.
    05-20-12 10:29 AM
  10. gorang's Avatar
    RIM still has factory in Canada, it is largely used for NPI (new product introduction). And they are pumping large quantities as well. After NPI process phones are made in other factories as well in order to meet quantitiy requirements. RIM's factories and placed all over the world and they supply their respective regions.

    One think to keep in mind is that labor cost (per worker) doesn't differ much between north america and other parts of the world. Biggest reason why Apple decided to have their products built by contractor manufacturer in China is becaue all of the components are built in China and working culture is much different there. There are millions of people living in villages that come to cities to work and they live in dormatories of 12 people and instead of spending their free time in dorms they work. This is the biggest reason why RIM has factories outside of Canada, its because north americans are lazier than the rest of the world and quantities would not be met. And also because components are made all over the world.
    05-20-12 11:17 AM
  11. _StephenBB81's Avatar
    Just two (2) quick points:

    1) Having had BlackBerry devices, as well as others, from all over the map, I have yet to notice
    any material differences in quality.

    2) Following your logic, you are advising RIM to double, triple, maybe even quadruple its labor
    cost and by extension negatively affect it's bottom line for the sake of taking a (pardon my
    expression here) pie in the sky moral high ground.

    There is a reason these companies have manufacturing and other services elsewhere. Reduced
    labor cost, reduced ancillary benefits, almost no labor unions to have to deal with, and the list
    goes on.

    I for one am good with this.
    Labour costs are a small piece of the pie, access to Raw materials is a big reason manufacturing leaves North America, on the world markets RAW material costs are much more expensive in, North America, as well as lead times to get the materials,

    then you factor in governments, more so than people or labour unions, governments stall business development with red tape, this happens far less in the Asian nations,

    Work Ethic is another factor, North Americans by in large have an entitlement attitude to their work/life balance, that isn't the case in the manufacturing nations, they go to work to work, and work long and hard, and usually more efficiently, which does reduce labour costs, but not in the way that it is usually portrayed , it isn't just cheaper labour, it is better labourers
    Laura Knotek and JR A like this.
    05-20-12 11:20 AM
  12. JayR2010's Avatar
    Ive had 1 made in mexico and 2 made in hungary,and im pretty sure ive had one from germany
    05-20-12 01:58 PM
  13. bbmme's Avatar
    I agree and love the idea, but I don't see it happening eh
    05-20-12 02:03 PM
  14. alnamvet68's Avatar
    Canada, Hungary, Mexico, India, Malaysia
    05-20-12 02:14 PM
  15. jafobabe's Avatar
    They have a location in Irving, Texas as well.
    Yep ... here's the article...

    Research in Motion Selects Irving, Texas for Its U.S. - Bloomberg
    05-20-12 02:24 PM
  16. BlackStormRising's Avatar
    We may soon see the tide reversing and jobs returning to submerging markets. The pressure to contain costs and improve operating efficiencies is pretty intense. Is there a job to be found anywhere that doesn't have a balanced scorecard and performance metrics now?

    In our North American operations we've had virtually zero growth in wages for nearly a decade now, but our overseas operations are seeing double digit growth in wage costs annually and (as far as I know) they are earning five digit salaries along with company paid lunch and the company provides free transportation to and from work.
    05-20-12 02:41 PM
  17. bdguru's Avatar
    We sound like Economists and political folks. Make a good OS, have a keyboard.....you had me at keyboard.

    Sent from my VZW 9330.
    05-20-12 08:42 PM
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