DarylMcMullen.com

The RIM/Blackberry Hail Mary

Recent news about Blackberry10 OS and a couple new phones (one that looks like every other smart phone out there - finally) doesn’t really interest me other than the fact that I’m surprised they are still a viable company.

Years of riding on top must have brought on a sense of complacency - leading to a recent decline in market share and an overall lack of relevance.

Now, similar to Palm’s undoing in the release of the Palm Pre and Palm OS, Blackberry finds itself throwing the “Hail Mary” pass. The question is, will there be anyone in the end zone waiting for the pass?

On the Today Show this morning people were interviewed about Blackberry and two things became obvious:

1. There is a lot of misinformation out there. One guy said, “I have to use Blackberry - it’s the only phone that can handle the high volume of email I get.” Really? Because other smart phones don’t do email - right?
2. People still love the physical keyboard. My guess is that the best selling phone for Blackberry won’t be the slick new Z10 candybar phone with virtual keyboard - it will be the older looking brother with small screen and physical keyboard they say is coming!

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Unlike Palm (which was bought out by HP and then basically dissolved…) Blackberry has a bit more going for them. Somehow they’re still able to convince large companies (and the U.S. Government) that they are the only “secure” solution.

Time will tell…