Are they losing money? in danger of losing money? RIM has one thing Palm didn't have - a large install base, a devoted following and lock-in with corporate accounts. It's like Apple's hold on education accounts during the 90's
On 8/5/10, George Kontos <[email protected]> wrote: > http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/202633/rim_following_in_palms_footsteps.html > > RIM Following in Palm's Footsteps > PC World Thu, 05 Aug 2010 08:50 AM PDT > > The BlackBerry Torch and BlackBerry 6 OS could be RIM's swan song the way > the Palm Pre and WebOS were the beginning of the end for Palm. > > ----- > > RIM revealed the BlackBerry Torch 9800 this week with much fanfare, but with > mixed reviews and a lukewarm reception. The launch of the BlackBerry Torch > seems déjà vu--reminiscent of the hype and reception of the Palm Pre which > ultimately turned out to be Palm's swan song. > > The Torch is supposed to catapult the aging BlackBerry product line to the > forefront--enabling RIM to compete head to head with cutting edge > smartphones. RIM set out to embrace the best of what the iPhone-generation > has to offer while maintaining core BlackBerry features--such as the > signature physical keyboard--to breathe new life into the stagnant > BlackBerry brand and give businesses and users a reason to stick with the > respected--yet waning--smartphone leader. > > RIM's next-generation smartphone is better suited to compete against the > first-generation iPhone, though, than current smartphones like the iPhone 4 > and Droid X. The processor, display, memory, and app market for the > BlackBerry Torch are all abysmally inferior to what Apple and Google have to > offer. > > Based on the initial reaction and early reviews for the BlackBerry Torch, it > seems like the device offers little real competition for the current > generation of smartphones. However, the BlackBerry Torch could still be a > success by some measures because the captive audience of business > professionals locked into the BlackBerry culture will embrace the inferior > device because it is still better than the other devices RIM has to offer. > > > Combined with the struggles RIM is facing over security and privacy issues > with the governments of India, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia, > and the snub of the European Commission--selecting the Apple iPhone and HTC > smartphones over the RIM BlackBerry platform for its employees--the future > of RIM doesn't look very bright. > > It seems like it's only a matter of time until RIM follows in Palm's > footsteps and ends up on the auction block. Apple and Google already have > superior smartphone and tablet platforms, but there is a struggling > smartphone competitor out there uniquely suited to take advantage of a RIM > purchase: Microsoft. > > Microsoft could be like the New York Yankees of smartphones--spending money > to make up for a lack of in-house talent and buy its way to the top. > Purchasing RIM and incorporating--or cannibalizing--its intellectual > property could enable Microsoft to leapfrog competing smartphone platforms > like iPhone and Android. > > Initial reviews of Windows Phone 7 suggest that Microsoft will soon have a > more compelling smartphone platform to offer even without purchasing RIM. > But, if Microsoft could successfully merge Windows Phone 7 into the > established corporate culture built around the RIM BlackBerry platform, it > could finally have the dominant presence it rightfully should have in the > business smartphone arena. > > There were about eleven months between the launch of the Palm Pre--heralded > as an "iPhone killer"--and the sale of the company to HP. Where will RIM be > this time next year? > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > >
