The Blackberry is dead.
This would have sounded like a crazy statement a few years ago, but now, it’s looking like RIM’s grave is being dug.
Unless they pull a rabbit out of their hat, RIM is on track to disappear or bought out.
Take a look at the grim history of RIM, shown below, and tell me what you think the future of RIM and the Blackberry will lead?
[Click for Larger]
What do you think the future holds for RIM?
[via MBAOnline]
Kevin says
After dealing with their devices while working in IT, I would celebrate! I mean, I hate seeing companies fold and people lose their jobs…but I would be glad that I wouldn’t have to support it anymore!
George says
AMEN!!!
Eric Dye says
LOL! Well, celebration may not be too far for you 🙂
George says
I don’t know why anyone would want to reply on 2 providers to access their data, Cell carrier and RIM we have enough problems with carriers…
RIM is dead unless they make a huge shift in the way they do things and can bring something remarkably awesome to the table…
Eric Dye says
Indeed. A HUGE shift. And I don’t see it coming.
Raoul Snyman says
The biggest problem I have with the IT industry (and let’s face it, phones are part of the IT industry) is that it mostly operates on hype.
Why was the iPhone so successful? It had less features and it’s operating system could not even multi-task. It was successful because there was a huge amount of hype around it.
Why did Nokia decide to hire an ex-Microsoft executive, and then follow his lead down the path to Windows Phone (which is hardly even a blip in the ocean of phone operating systems)? Despite having more market share than both their nearest competitors COMBINED (BTW, Apple hardly features in the market share graphs), the media hype said that Nokia was struggling, so they believed the hype.
RIM is another example. The situation is not as dire as it seems (this is actually fairly standard issue in companies), but because of media hype, everyone, including RIM themselves, believes that RIM is going down.
Granted RIM has been slow to adjust to the new phone markets, and they’ve made their fair share of mistakes, but it just completely grates my carrot when people run around after hype instead of looking at the facts.
Antoine RJ Wright says
Indeed, a graphic like this just plays on the hype cycle. Usage rates for RIM services and devices are still growing, it’s sales that aren’t. And given that RIM devices tend to have the longest replacement rates in the industry (18-24mos), that’s not exactly a reason to hype death.
Could they stand to improve their service offerings faster and in a more comprehensive manner? Sure. They seem to be addressing that. What they can’t do is continue down the path of being sort-of-device-led, that’s where their org and strategy problems have been and where the confidence in them as a device company (which they aren’t) tends to falter.
Death for RIM? Probably. Every company rises, falls, and dies when it loses focus on what relevant value it has towards whatever market segments it seeks to establish or disrupt.
Eric Dye says
Good stuff, Raoul, thanks for weighing in!