I am an avid Blackberry user, I have gone through many upgrades and currently have the Bold and a PlayBook and I love these devices. That being said I also am not such a fan boy that I don't see the odd issue with them or won't admit that there are flaws.
With that being said I am quite saddened to see all the RIM bashing that is going on in both the technical and financial markets right now. Some are saying that RIM is now dead and can't recover from where they are. That the loss of market share is massive and they are done as a company. To those people I would like to say that I think you are looking to profit from a hiccup and that your call of their demise is very premature.
RIM was the first smart phone maker and as such had a 100% market share. When the iPhone came out guess where they took the market share from? When the Android came out it had to take a market share from someone as well. Just like Apple was the first to push out the iPad they had 100% of the market, now there are several tablet devices that have taken from that market share but no one is saying that Apple will die because of it. It's not that RIM is dying as much as they have competition now and have to adjust marketing practices to make sure they compete with the new technology. That being said they are also the only devices that are authorized for use by military and governments due to their security. That is a huge market that they hold, and that alone can sustain many companies.
With all technology when new items come out they will take a share of the market from the big boys and it is how they react that matters, RIM has been slow to react to market change and it is costing them but the technology they are building is solid and is very good at what it does. They are not the best "toy" on the market but I do believe they are still the best business device on the market. I know the consumer market is where you want to be but consumers are fickle and will constantly change to the newest best marketing pitch that is presented to them and not what is necessarily the best device. I know lots of people that have iPhones and most of which are Apple fanboys and will buy anything (and line up) that has that Apple logo on it. It doesn't matter the cost or the functionality they will always buy it because in their eyes Apple is better than everyone else. RIM will never win those people over no matter what they try. So why not stick to the market that they have a shot at keeping and converting? The business user will take whatever device their IT person tells them is the right choice. So in my opinion RIM needs to show the technical market that their devices are better.
This brings me back to the days I started working in the computer industry. I found an amazing operating system that was GUI, stable and had the ability to multi task. It was called O/S2 and was made by IBM. It was far better than anything Microsoft had at the time but in the end went the way of the dodo because no one ever heard of it. IBM had the best stealth marketing team known to man at that time. RIM is in the same boat right now, you see Apple advertisements every where. Ask anyone on the street and they will know what an iPad or iPhone or iPod is. Ask them if they know who RIM or BlackBerry is and you will get some strange looks. If RIM can fix the marketing situation they will be back better and stronger than before.
As a disclaimer, I do not work for RIM, I am not a sales guy, and I have no affiliation with them. I just like their devices and wanted to put my thoughts out to the world.
