Global BlackBerry sales tumbled 43 percent last quarter as RIM’s aging lineup of devices failed to match the consumer appeal of Android phones and Apple’s iPhone. BB10 will change RIM’s fortunes, Heins said today.“We’re here to win,” he said. “We’re not here to fight for third or fourth place.”
Maybe RIM is tired of Samsung getting all the attention and says stupid things to turn things around.
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co said on Thursday it has not considered acquiring Research In Motion or licensing the embattled BlackBerry phone maker’s new mobile operating system.
I don’t know, buying RIM and using the software in its devices might be a good idea for Samsung, especially if it loses the lawsuit that Apple brought against it.
Salvador Rodriguez for the LA Times:
The company tweeted from its @BlackBerry account “Fill in the blank: BlackBerry helps me ________.” However, many of the people who responded didn’t find BlackBerry too helpful.“Realize how thankful I am for my #iPhone,” said one user, in one of the tamest yet worst responses RIM could have received. Not to be outdone, though, another user said the same about Android.
It’s not surprising that nobody at RIM saw this coming.
Matt Richman takes a look at how far the average selling price (ASP) has fallen.
Five months after replacing the longstanding co-CEOs, Heins desperately needs more time to right the now-struggling company and he likely has next to nothing concrete to offer his restless audience in terms of new products and services.
Alan Brenner, a senior vice president for the BlackBerry platform, will leave after a transition period, and Alistair Mitchell, a vice president for the BlackBerry Messenger instant messaging product, has already left, RIM spokeswoman Tenille Kennedy said in an email on Friday.
It just keeps getting worse.
Mark Hattersley for Macworld UK:
BlackBerry’s woes continue after a celebrity party, thrown by the company last night to celebrate BBM, ended in a vicious stabbing that forced police to lock celebrities inside the club and BlackBerry to cancel the event.
I could make a joke like maybe someone threw an iPhone into the crowd, but out of respect for the person that was injured, I won’t.
Matt Burns and his article “It’s Time To Believe In RIM And The BlackBerry Again”:
RIM is beaten and laying on the floor. Together, Apple and Google knocked out the champ. Since then, they’ve started fighting each other, seemingly ignoring RIM as regains his strength. He might take another blow from time to time, but with a renewed focus he should stay on his feet from here on out. After years of savage beatings, he’s like the honey badger now and just doesn’t care.
At best, this article is misguided.
That’s not good.
RIM reported its financial results today and it doesn’t look good. Here are some highlights: […]
“We decided to make BlackBerry World more focused on customers, developers and partners,” RIM spokeswoman Tenille Kennedy said on Tuesday. “We will hold a separate session targeted at the interests of the investment community later this year, once BlackBerry 10 is launched.”
Translation: We’re so screwed right now and we want to have something — anything — to show analysts.
We are aware some of you may not currently be able to access certain services on BlackBerrys including, email, some internet access, BlackBerry Messenger and BlackBerry App World. We are working with RIM to resolve this and we will let you know as soon as we know more.
RIM’s new CEO is right, nothing really needs to change, the company is just fine. Customers on Vodafone don’t seem to agree though.
Alec Saunders is the Vice President of Developer Relations for RIM:
PlayBook OS 2.0 benchmarks better than any other mobile implementation (just point your PlayBook at HTML5Test.com), and better than every desktop browser, except Chrome 16. It also includes WebGL for accelerated 3D graphics, and with WebWorks, we can free HTML5 code from the browser, let you upload it to AppWorld, and turn that HTML5 website into a revenue generating HTML5 application. How ‘bout them apples?
Two things:
Make sure you’re near a Wi-Fi connection before pointing your PlayBook at any site because it doesn’t have 3G.
You think it’s a good idea to allow developers to sell an app based on an HTML5 Web site? That’s not a plus. People want real apps, not fake shit.
Does this mean they are extinct?
Yawn.
RIM director Roger Martin speaking to the Globe and Mail:
I laugh at the vast majority of critics when they say ‘Oh, you should have made this CEO transition, like, four years ago.’ Yeah, right – like, to who?
I guess the co-CEOs aren’t the only ones that need to go.
Reuters:
Next-generation software for BlackBerry’s smartphones is “ready to compete”, Research In Motion’s new chief executive, Thorsten Heins, told more than 2,000 technical developers on Tuesday, expressing confidence in RIM’s long-term future.
I hate to tell you this, but that train left five years ago.
Alex Knight:
I have spoken friends of mine who have been long-time Blackberry fans, and they aren’t holding their breath for any miraculous event where the company will suddenly bounce back.
This is a key point. Not even RIM’s loyal followers believe there is a chance in hell the company can recover from its embarrassing missteps over the last few years. Even at its worst times, Apple’s core customers believed in the company.
Yeah, that was ambitious. I got nothing, sorry.
Reuters: Research In Motion, still smarting over having to change the name of its yet-to-come operating system, faces a similar trademark challenge to its popular instant-messaging service BlackBerry Messenger. Because things are going so well for RIM, they just needed … Continued
BGR:
In what is something of a serious allegation, our source told us that Mike Lazaridis was lying when he said the company’s new lineup was delayed for that reason. ”RIM is simply pushing this out as long as they can for one reason, they don’t have a working product yet,” we were told.
Of course RIM has denied what BGR’s source said. But then again, I don’t believe much of what RIM says these days.
They also said the PlayBook would deliver an amazing tablet experience. Amazingly bad.
Apparently RIM organized a party in Sydney, Australia where BlackBerry users could share songs with their friends. Judging from the turnout, I guess they were too embarrassed to show up.
Matt Hartley:
After much consideration, he concluded that his company’s only hope was to abandon its long-held strategy, to acknowledge its shortcomings and embark on a radical new strategy. He ditched the company’s sputtering software business. He put teams to work developing new devices and he cut a billion-dollar software deal with one of the most powerful technology companies on the planet.Unfortunately for the shareholders of Research In Motion Ltd., the Canadian smartphone executive’s name was not Jim Balsillie or Mike Lazaridis. It was Stephen Elop, the Hamilton-born chief executive of Finnish mobile giant Nokia Corp.
I don’t think RIM can do it. They need to fire the co-CEOs and bring in someone with some imagination to clean house and get the company back on track.
Tom Krazit for paidContent.org: As they tried once again Thursday evening to urge financial analysts to look ahead to a brighter future while once again delaying the release of a crucial product, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis failed to give … Continued
The numbers are in and they don’t look good. According to the company, they shipped 14.1 million BlackBerrys and 150,000 PlayBooks. Keep in mind, those are shipped numbers, not sold.
Elizabeth Woyke for Forbes: This was particularly true of BlackBerry users. More than half (53%) of survey respondents who identified themselves as BlackBerry users said they would like an iPad if they were to buy a tablet. A much smaller … Continued
Research In Motion (RIM), maker of BlackBerry smartphones and PlayBook tablets, has been prevented from using “BBX” to describe its next-generation BlackBerry operating system. The word comes from a press release posted by BASIS International, a business software developer which … Continued
Indonesian police named Research In Motion’s country director a suspect for negligence Monday after a BlackBerry promotion turned chaotic and left dozens injured and others knocked unconscious.Andrew Cobham, president director for Research in Motion (RIM) in Indonesia, and British security consultant Terry Burkey were named as two of four suspects in the incident at a Jakarta mall and could face five years’ imprisonment.
Just when you think things can’t possibly get worse for RIM.
RIM’s newest BlackBerry phone created a riot in Indonesia when it went on sale.
WSJ: Verizon Wireless customers may have to wait more than three weeks for the device, according to the carrier’s website. That compares with as much as 21 days at AT&T and up to 14 days at Sprint Nextel. While some … Continued