Over the past few weeks, while so many other sites have been forecasting the potential doom of RIM, I have been defending the company and its products. I may have been wrong.
I have thought about this for some time now and come to the conclusion that the basis on which RIM made its fortune is under serious threat and that the competition is beating it without having to innovate much. We all know that the vast majority of BlackBerry users are given the phones by their employers. We all know that for many of these employees the phone can feel like a mobile noose that will not let go due to company expectations. And we all know that the BlackBerry app market is less than exciting even to the least demanding of users.
I know of three large companies in the UK that have recently moved from a BlackBerry only stance for managers and sales people to accepting iPhones, Android and Windows Mobile devices. It would appear that the cost savings that can be garnered from BlackBerry messaging and using a common platform have not materialised for many. The problem was not the platform, but the way the companies used it. The lack of understanding is remarkable- for example, I cannot use BlackBerry Messenger on my work mobile because the BES setup bars it from being installed, so I text people. The savings that can be made from the BlackBerry platform, and the obvious security considerations, are immense and it should have a place in any large corporation. The problem is that users (employees) want to use their own smartphones, or at least have the choice, and so the companies then see an opportunity in avoiding the initial cost of the phones themselves.
Security can also be managed more effectively off the phones now as well and this is another problem for RIM. Ultimately, the others have caught up to RIM at what they do best without doing what they do (that sentence makes sense to me I think) and RIM is quickly entering a corner that is getting smaller all of the time.
RIM could change everything tomorrow, but it would need to lose what is good about the BlackBerry platform and effectively start all over again. BlackBerry OS 6 reminds me of the last throws of Palm OS; small changes that are welcomed by the committed fans, but they are not enough to gather in many new users. So, it would appear that incremental changes are not the way forward either.
Where does RIM go next? I have no idea…
Working for a bank. Security is very tight. Personal phones are never allowed. The Bank owns all property.
So there will always be a need. Plus teenagers love them for texting, email etc.
I love the BB form factor, but I’ve always been put off buying one because of what seems to be a basic OS. I have always assumed at some point they’ll catch up with Android (at least) but now I’m doubting it.
“Plus teenagers love them for texting, email etc.”
Several people have mentioned this on PDA-247, but I think it must be a UK phenomenon. I can’t recall ever having seen a teenager using a BlackBerry here in the US.
I’ve seen quite a few teens with BBs here, in fact my niece has one. I believe texting has always been a much bigger thing in the UK/EU than the US, so a dedicated keyboard makes sense.
Most teenagers in the US seem to use cheap slider phones (similar to the Sidekick). When they can afford them, they have iPhones or an Android device (if they are on Verizon, Sprint etc.).
I’m not sure whether my presence in New York means my perspective is skewed, lazyboy, but here I see a LOT of teenagers with Curves (as well as some Sidekicks and similar devices). From where I stand, RIM has gutted the cheap feature phone market with the varied Curve models and promotions.
But, yeah, I think most people now see three bands of phones – el cheapos, then BlackBerries, then iPhones/Android phones. I don’t think companies have spurned the BB app market so much as the underpinnings of the BB OS is just not up to par for developers. I know that OS 5 was really just Java programming. Is that still the case with OS 6?
My institution went from a corporate-sponsored world and providing blackberries to an employee-funded world accepting BBs and iPhones. No Android device support – yet. Promised in a soon OS release (I forgot which, maybe 2.2?)
I’ve not seen a new BB in 3 years, but lots of new iPhones.
I suspect you are seeing a lot of BBs in the hands of teenagers – in part because they still work and their parents have upgraded to an iPhone/Android device!
With devices like the Droid 2, I see no reason to keep a BB once corporate support for Android devices goes mainstream.