I always had this fascination to know, the urge to discover, to reason, to fail, to fail again and not even remember what winning means.
I was looking for a bait, and now I’m hooked to the business page and its RIM (Research In Motion) not meeting the projected sales, loses amounting to millions. A CEO honest enough to recognize their technologically handicapped exaggeratedly priced handsets are getting their bottoms handed to them.
Why? Why you ask I have taken a keen interest to a company to whom I have no meaning. As a matter of fact I do. It stands at the corner of extinction. Perhaps a hard word to describe its fate, but not a distant future.
I have fallen numerous times, stubbed, shoved but I’m still alive. Barely walking, hardly standing but breathing. This engages me with the story that I have been following for quite sometime now. The fight to survive. The change that will bring back the meaning of existence, not survive but to exist.
If you are asking what’s RIM – its Blackberry. The QWERTY phones that revolutionized the corporate sector with email at their fingertips. From hire to fire, they had it all. A status symbol slowly wiped away with the mighty swipe of Android and iPhone’s.
I have but recently jumped into the sinking Blackberry era. Termed and always thought as a boring phone, with age I have gained the wisdom all that glitters is not gold. Holds true for BB as well. I have loved it, hated it at the same time but never enjoyed so much picking up a phone to call anyone.
Today is not the day where I speak about my phone, but to focus on the strategy discussed for its survival. I had to voice out my opinions, I had no audience and hence I’m here. My keyboard is my voice, the internet my stage, my audience – you.
Low-End Segment: RIM is thinking about shifting the focus to the low end phones. The promising factor are the various plans BB has. Kidding me? I can get 1GB net for 99/-. Can I get to that using BB – NO!
In India, BB net charges is expensive, I end up paying 399/- for the same service I can avail for 99 or 199. If you are thinking about leveling there, think again.
8520 the popular BB phone is getting squished with competing phones from the Android segment, free BBM? Tell me something if the number of people running BB is getting low with whom am I supposed to use it with?
Shutterbugs – you heard me, I end up buying a phone and it does not even capture decent quality photographs. Seriously?
High-End Segment: It will END soon if you don’t do what you do best. Get a battery that can survive the all so power hungry OS and H/W that makes up the phone.
BBX-10: Future of RIM. Tell me one thing that I see new there! In order to win the race you don’t have to reinvent the wheel.
If I have read correctly between the lines, going forward the way to compete is to go after all touch phone, please spare a thought for the ones who still enjoys the click of keypads. The sensual keypad of BB, its shortcuts, the feel of pristine engineering, the optical track-pad and not to mention the feel of a phone.
I recently read this, “If you’re doing business and not advertising, its similar to winking at a girl in the dark. It’s only you who knows what you are doing and not the world”. Get my point RIM?
Marketing and especially not the Vodafone’s approach to ‘We are the Blackberry Boys’. In comparison to Samsung, iPhone’s over the top adverts I see not one for BB. If you stare at things long enough you will get a hang of it. Bring on-board the talented professionals, and don’t try to make a fool of the touch phones as you have quite a few up your sleeves.
I don’t want the platform to die. I don’t want what Nokia did to Maemo/Meego. I want RIM to succeed, why because its getting mauled by the eye candy and it will be a story worth reading.
