RIM's Former CEO Had Radical Plan to Save Company

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Every time I hear a story like this, I can't help but wonder where these "radical plans" were for the last few years as the company hemorrhaged money and customers. :rolleyes:

RIM announced last month that during the fiscal fourth quarter, it lost $125 million, down from the $934 million profit it generated in the prior year. Most troubling, RIM said that BlackBerry shipments fell to 11.1 million units during the period, dropping 80 percent year-over-year.
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I wonder if the radical plan was to, ya know, make a product people actually want to buy. :rolleyes:
 
Well clearly the plan was there, he just didnt have support of the other leaders...its called politics my friend.
 
wilsonrdfl said:
LOL, nice. I feel your pain, brother.
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Pain?
I have less support problems with blackberry users than I do with android/iphone/W7 users.
(Yes, I even have someone with a W7 phone as of last month)

I have BES running in a VM, and only time I ever reboot it, is when I apply updates.
Did have over 30 users on BES at one time, but now I'm now down to around 12, even though the number of users has increased about 20%
 
I just got "upgraded" from a Torch to a 9930 Bold. Although the build quality is really nice, the touchscreen is completely useless on a screen of this size (in fact, a detriment because your fingers have a tendancy to brush the screen when typing). I can't help but feel the new Blackberries are like '92 Chrysler Le Barons: nice when they came out, but completely outmoded with only gimmicks added in later models.
 
IMHO, best thing RIM can do for itself right now is as follows:

1.) Exit handset market. Kill off Blackberry OS.

2.) Focus all efforts on BlackBerry back-end software tying into Outlook (this is their strength)

3.) Sell Blackberry MS Exchange apps for Adroid/IOS/Windows phone.

4.) (Possibly) Work with the likes of Samsung or other handset manufacturers to bring out blackberry special edition phones based on Android.

They simply just don't have what it takes to release good devices, so they should focus on their strengths - the server integration - and sell apps for others phones to take advantage of this.
 
Zarathustra[H];1038606609 said:
IMHO, best thing RIM can do for itself right now is as follows:

1.) Exit handset market. Kill off Blackberry OS.

2.) Focus all efforts on BlackBerry back-end software tying into Outlook (this is their strength)

3.) Sell Blackberry MS Exchange apps for Adroid/IOS/Windows phone.

4.) (Possibly) Work with the likes of Samsung or other handset manufacturers to bring out blackberry special edition phones based on Android.

They simply just don't have what it takes to release good devices, so they should focus on their strengths - the server integration - and sell apps for others phones to take advantage of this.
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Mother effing this.
 
Metrocall said:
I wonder if the radical plan was to, ya know, make a product people actually want to buy. :rolleyes:
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It's a shame because as far as 7" tablets go, the Blackberry Playbook is fuckin' badass. Great hardware, battery life and build. Even the OS, QNX, is really sweet.

And then Blackberry had to cripple it all...
 
nutzo said:
Pain?
I have less support problems with blackberry users than I do with android/iphone/W7 users.
(Yes, I even have someone with a W7 phone as of last month)

I have BES running in a VM, and only time I ever reboot it, is when I apply updates.
Did have over 30 users on BES at one time, but now I'm now down to around 12, even though the number of users has increased about 20%
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I support WP7, blackberry, android, and Iphone. While android is my personal favorite for my personal use, i actually perfer the end users on Iphone. I would say the android phones seem to have more issues, but they are a lot more functional then a blackberry and therefore more useful. Ive never once heard an end user say "I hate my Iphone and im getting something else" Though ive heard that plenty of times from all the other phones. I went from android to WP7 and really regret it

I myself have been considering the notion of going iphone depending on what the next one looks like, but i dont want a small phone. i want 4.5"+ screen.
 
You prefer the end users on the iphone, because not all androids and windows phones will support the polices on Activesync. One of those being device level encryption. Not all androids and windows phones can encrypt data at the phone level.

However the way the BB connected to exchange wasn't so much a bad thing, it is just that they are slow and shitty.

However Good for Enterprise is going to run into the same issues that BB did. Give it time.
 
From a cost perspective BBs are free, Iphones, not a chance. Verizon hands out BBs like candy.
 
roaf85 said:
From a cost perspective BBs are free, Iphones, not a chance. Verizon hands out BBs like candy.
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Eh, the 3Gs is now free on contract and the 4 is $99. Blackberries are only free because they've been around longer and have enough older generation phones to pass out like candy. In addition, the newer Blackberries that are free are pre-owned.
 
Azhar said:
Eh, the 3Gs is now free on contract and the 4 is $99. Blackberries are only free because they've been around longer and have enough older generation phones to pass out like candy. In addition, the newer Blackberries that are free are pre-owned.
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The new ones we get free basically. We are a large company. Iphones, not a chance.
 
BBs are free because they're cheaper to absorb, as opposed to an iphone which is ~3 times the price.
 
roaf85 said:
The new ones we get free basically. We are a large company. Iphones, not a chance.
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Oh, you're comparing a business offerings with a consumer offerings. You'll always find free Blackberries for businesses. It'll be suicide for RIM if they stop offering them.

My comment was regarding consumer offerings.
 
royo said:
BBs are free because they're cheaper to absorb, as opposed to an iphone which is ~3 times the price.
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Azhar said:
Oh, you're comparing a business offerings with a consumer offerings. You'll always find free Blackberries for businesses. It'll be suicide for RIM if they stop offering them.

My comment was regarding consumer offerings.
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Yea pretty much. RIM makes money on the BES server support and license.
 
Sort of related topic: what do you guys think are the best smartphones for one-handed use?

That's one area where I think Blackberries still have a bit of an advantage from a hardware standpoint: portrait hardware keyboard + trackpad is great for one-handed use. Not only is everything within easy, but I just can't type well in portrait orientation on many touchscreen designs.
 
Skipper007 said:
Sort of related topic: what do you guys think are the best smartphones for one-handed use?

That's one area where I think Blackberries still have a bit of an advantage from a hardware standpoint: portrait hardware keyboard + trackpad is great for one-handed use. Not only is everything within easy, but I just can't type well in portrait orientation on many touchscreen designs.
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Not sure I have seen certain apps that replace the standard entry for keyboards. Like swipe apps for words etc. I have never tried them.
 
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