Waterloo, Ontario – In a rare interview last week, Mike Lazaridis, one of Research In Motion’s two chief executives, was the one asking questions:
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“Why is it that people don’t appreciate our profits? Why is it that people don’t appreciate our growth? Why is it that people don’t appreciate the fact that we spent the last four years going global? Why is it that people don’t appreciate that we have 500 carriers in 170 countries with products in almost 30 languages?”
He wrapped up with “I don’t fully understand why there’s this negative sentiment, and I just don’t have the time to battle it. Because in the end, what I’ve learned is you’ve just got to prove it over and over and over.”
Mr. Lazaridis can point to numbers that back up his frustrated defense of R.I.M., maker of the BlackBerry, the phone of choice in the White House and a global totem of connectedness. During its last fiscal year, the company, which is based here, shipped a record 52.3 million phones – a 43 percent increase over the previous year – and its fourth-quarter income of $924 million exceeded forecasts.
Nevertheless, as R.I.M. prepares to introduce its first tablet computer on April 19, doubts about its future have arguably never been greater.
Some analysts suggest that R.I.M. has lost its momentum and may now be heading downward, much like Palm, which in better days was expected to rub out the then-fledgling R.I.M. Current BlackBerrys are hobbled with an aging operating system, and the company’s market growth last year seems less impressive when contrasted with Apple’s 93 percent rise in iPhone shipments.
In a world where applications have become a major selling point for mobile devices, the number of apps available for BlackBerry phones is in the tens of thousands, compared with the hundreds of thousands for Android and Apple devices. BlackBerrys are still prized for their e-mail capabilities, particularly among government and corporate customers who rely on the devices’ tight security. But it is increasingly common to find people who carry a BlackBerry for e-mail and an iPhone for everything else.
That has led several analysts and investors to question R.I.M.’s ability to hold its own in a market dominated by devices running Google’s Android software, as well as iPhones and iPads. “They’ve been caught flat-footed,” said Jean-Louis Gassée, a former Apple executive, the former chairman of Palm’s software spinoff and a partner at Allegis Capital in Palo Alto, Calif. “They’ve built a tremendous company; they are people with distinguished backgrounds. They are not idiots, but they’ve behaved like idiots.”
Jim Balsillie, R.I.M.’s other chief executive, vigorously rejected suggestions that R.I.M. was ill-prepared for the changes in its markets. But he acknowledged that if it had moved earlier to introduce its tablet, the BlackBerry PlayBook, it could have improved perceptions of the company. And he agreed with critics on one thing: Many companies will struggle to adapt as the industry makes the huge shift to a world of powerful mobile computers.
Read full article in NY Times
They make the best smartphones. But their customer service is absolutely terrible.
Android is king.
My Blackberry does it all, and does it so well. The iPhone is bigger and has a sleek look to it, but for my needs I like how compact my Blackberry is. All my friends with Blackberries bbm each other and swear by them. I’m writing this on a Blackberry right now. Shmeazy!
Bbm is gr8 but the phone freezes too much & thinks too much I’m waiting for an I phone with bbm !
I am al
so writing now from my blackberry
The browser is not as good as it was in the old phone
The emails are good but I hear the iphone and google phone can do the same today
The only thing blackberry still has going is the messenger
Android and iOS are the ones to beat. The Windows Phone is a non-starter. Blackberry and Symbian are losing market share.
If only this zeal and enthusiasm for one brand of smart phone or another among chareidi Jews could be translated into a similar enthusiasm for organ donation.
Simple. Hardware makers never make the money, its the software. AND, Rimm stayed comfortable in its niche and never innnovated. Along came Apple with the first touch screen. BB soon copied with the problem plagued and inferior Storm. Android innovated software, along BB and tried to copy but failed. Apple innovated with thousands of apps, finally , after a year or more, BB opened an app store. Again, a poor copy. They have lost their edge. THey copy, they dont create. Same will be with the iPad copy, it will be a poor copy. Too little too late. Like GM and FOrd when the Japanese ate their. Finally, they got the picture, after losing half their market share and now make lasting, well engineered products. By copying the Japanese. Good by RIMM, the way of all the hardware makers, in the crapper.
There are 4 BB’s in my family, and one iPhone. I had a problem with my iPhone, the people at the apple store took a look and quickly replaced the unit- at no charge. I had some problems with the BB- there was no customer service number, and it was impossible to get through to them. If they want to do business with consumers who don’t have access to IT support, they will have to do better. Until and unless RIM becomes more consumer oriented, I won’t buy another product from them.