BlackBerry CEO: Tablets Are A Bad Business Model

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I know you guys are probably laughing at this guy right now but, considering his first hand experience with bad business models, maybe we should listen to him. :D

“In five years I don’t think there’ll be a reason to have a tablet anymore,” Heins said in an interview yesterday at the Milken Institute conference in Los Angeles. “Maybe a big screen in your workspace, but not a tablet as such. Tablets themselves are not a good business model.”
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"Tablets themselves are not a good business model"

If you consider the dropping profit margins on tablets, then I might agree.
Building/selling a low margin commodity product is a difficult business to be in.

This is one of Apples big problems, and one of the reasons they brought out the iPad mini.
Apple has never been good at direct competition, or low margin sales, and competition in the tablet market is still heating up.
 
The CEO of BlackBerry should know a thing or three about what is a bad business model. :D
 
nutzo said:
"Tablets themselves are not a good business model"

If you consider the dropping profit margins on tablets, then I might agree.
Building/selling a low margin commodity product is a difficult business to be in.

This is one of Apples big problems, and one of the reasons they brought out the iPad mini.
Apple has never been good at direct competition, or low margin sales, and competition in the tablet market is still heating up.
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I don't recall there ever being much of a profit margin on tablets to begin with, save for Apple products. The business model was always 'make your money off of licensing and software sales'.

Also, having observed Apple as a company for 20-aught years, the only time they cared about being directly competitive was roughly around the time they were being killed by Windows 95 clones. Since the dawn of Mac OS X, they went back to having nice, cushy profit margins on everything.
 
People will use tablets regardless of whether or not they are a good business model. Because they are more ideal to use for casual stuff than smartphones, netbooks, laptops, or desktop computers.
 
Since I got my Nexus 4 I hardly use my tablet anymore and I was crazy about it.

The tablet? A Playbook! No kidding.
 
I can see notebooks making a comeback over tablets in the future as people realize you can't do everything a business needs with a tablet. One of our departments that interfaces with the public wants to switch to tablets (win powered) and expects to type in reports with the on-screen keyboard. I can see that as utter failure and a switch back to notebook computers.

Oh, and Microsoft: If the best commercial you can make for your tablets is the sound the keyboard and case make, you should probably get out of the tablet business now...
 
After buying a phone with a sufficiently sized screen, I've had no need for a 10" tablet at all. I don't see this changing any time soon.
 
az_max said:
I can see notebooks making a comeback over tablets in the future as people realize you can't do everything a business needs with a tablet. One of our departments that interfaces with the public wants to switch to tablets (win powered) and expects to type in reports with the on-screen keyboard. I can see that as utter failure and a switch back to notebook computers.

Oh, and Microsoft: If the best commercial you can make for your tablets is the sound the keyboard and case make, you should probably get out of the tablet business now...
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You've seen the ads that Apple makes, right?
 
Tablets are a transitory technology to larger touch technology embedded on flat surfaces on your desk, in your home, on your walls.
 
Methadras said:
Tablets are a transitory technology to larger touch technology embedded on flat surfaces on your desk, in your home, on your walls.
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Like that scene of the President in the bathroom in SpaceBalls?
 
Kueller said:
Microsoft is a Technology company, Apple is a Fashion company...Microsoft would do well to remember that fact.
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Alright, name another ad that Microsoft has made in the last 5 years off the top of your head.



How many other ads do you remember? If you had to look them up, it doesn't count. A shitty ad that makes you remember it still does half of its job.
 
ballistic90 said:
Alright, name another ad that Microsoft has made in the last 5 years off the top of your head.



How many other ads do you remember? If you had to look them up, it doesn't count. A shitty ad that makes you remember it still does half of its job.
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I remember each of the Surface ads... Only for the fact that they're so stupid in idea that each time I see one, I ask myself "who the hell buys one of these things based off of this ad?"
 
Technically speaking, they are a bad business model. Tablets are very simple devices, and most of which can be made without the need of brand name or recognition. You know how many cheap Chinese Android tablets that exist in the market? It's not like they don't work, cause they do. The market will be saturated with them in no time.
 
ballistic90 said:
Alright, name another ad that Microsoft has made in the last 5 years off the top of your head.
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The Mojave ads
The Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates ads
The new Outlook ads
The Surface and Surface Pro dancing ads, obviously
The Windows 8 "kid paints on touch display" ad
 
Blackberry CEO needs to learn that one-size-fit-all approach is bad business model. Customers want diversity. Some want laptops, some want ultrabooks, some want tablets, some want smartphones or (Galaxy) notes, some want desktop, some want plain old flip cell phones.

To tell everyone what they should have and should not have is a bad business model.
 
wonderfield said:
The Mojave ads
The Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates ads
The new Outlook ads
The Surface and Surface Pro dancing ads, obviously
The Windows 8 "kid paints on touch display" ad
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And the hundreds of OEM ads that advertises in Microsoft's stead.

"HP, now with Windows 8" for example.
 
Azhar said:
Blackberry CEO needs to learn that one-size-fit-all approach is bad business model. Customers want diversity. Some want laptops, some want ultrabooks, some want tablets, some want smartphones or (Galaxy) notes, some want desktop, some want plain old flip cell phones.

To tell everyone what they should have and should not have is a bad business model.
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That's not what he said.
 
Coming from a guy that can't even sell smart phones, I wouldn't pay attention to his idea of what does, and doesn't make money.
 
wonderfield said:
The Mojave ads
The Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates ads
The new Outlook ads
The Surface and Surface Pro dancing ads, obviously
The Windows 8 "kid paints on touch display" ad
Click to expand...

So did you remember those ads, or did you have to look them up? If you had to do anything to job your memory, then the ads didn't do their full job anywhere near their full potential.

I don't remember the "kids paints" or the Seinfeld ads at all. I remember the Outlook ads, but that's because I saw it yesterday. Do you understand why I asked what you could remember without any external assistance, right? I assume you do, because you purposely cut the quote of what I said. If you have to look up an ad to remember it, then the ad didn't leave nearly as much of an impression as they wanted.
 
Skripka said:
I remember each of the Surface ads... Only for the fact that they're so stupid in idea that each time I see one, I ask myself "who the hell buys one of these things based off of this ad?"
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And like I said before, that means that the ad did half of what it's supposed to do.

Two qualities that companies want from their ads: 1. For the ad to stick with you. 2. To make you buy the product.

They failed step 2 on those ads, though.
 
To me it sounds like he's trying to justify BB not being able to create a relevant tablet. He also says he wants BB to be the lesder in mobile computing - so is he saying BB will be making laptops?
 
ballistic90 said:
Alright, name another ad that Microsoft has made in the last 5 years off the top of your head.



How many other ads do you remember? If you had to look them up, it doesn't count. A shitty ad that makes you remember it still does half of its job.
Click to expand...

The Bing commercials and the IE commercials, as well as the Surface and Win 8 ones come to mind.
 
If you look at mobile computing devices in the longer team its probably a reasonable argument. We have seen multiple explosions then implosions of mobile devices where at first because people have no other item to compare to they over pay for a product and because it fills a niche the growth is enormous.

Netbooks
MP3 players
Phones
Tablets.

But each one with the exception of phones and tablets so far has crashed and burned just as fast as it rose. I personally believe that all of these devices have a place but will normalize in use. The only exception is phones. Phones are something almost everyone now needs and will carry. Companies that do not have a strong tablet presence should get ahead of the curve and make universal, and universal is very very key, docks to turn phones into laptops or tablets and desktop devices. This will help them. Those with a strong tablet presence will keep milking the cow. But the ones making docs and stuff need to make these so they can accept multiple phones from different years as well as different models in the same year so that people will be interested in rebuying their phones once they have an infrastructure up.
 
ballistic90 said:
And like I said before, that means that the ad did half of what it's supposed to do.

Two qualities that companies want from their ads: 1. For the ad to stick with you. 2. To make you buy the product.

They failed step 2 on those ads, though.
Click to expand...

Except goal #1 is irrelevant if conditional #2 is not met. I cannot remember what the product was that the famed "Running of the Squirrels" was advertising. Especially for Microsoft's Surface ads, where all they really promote is ridicule....I mean why would a bunch of people dancing and throwing tablets around a room convice me to spend $900 on a tablet?
 
ballistic90 said:
Alright, name another ad that Microsoft has made in the last 5 years off the top of your head.



How many other ads do you remember? If you had to look them up, it doesn't count. A shitty ad that makes you remember it still does half of its job.
Click to expand...

Surface Ads, Bill Gates & Jerry Seinfeld, Internet Explorer vomiting advertisement, Gwen Stefani Windows Phone, "Windows 7 Was My Idea"...
 
rudy said:
If you look at mobile computing devices in the longer team its probably a reasonable argument. We have seen multiple explosions then implosions of mobile devices where at first because people have no other item to compare to they over pay for a product and because it fills a niche the growth is enormous.

Netbooks
MP3 players
Phones
Tablets.

But each one with the exception of phones and tablets so far has crashed and burned just as fast as it rose. I personally believe that all of these devices have a place but will normalize in use. The only exception is phones. Phones are something almost everyone now needs and will carry. Companies that do not have a strong tablet presence should get ahead of the curve and make universal, and universal is very very key, docks to turn phones into laptops or tablets and desktop devices. This will help them. Those with a strong tablet presence will keep milking the cow. But the ones making docs and stuff need to make these so they can accept multiple phones from different years as well as different models in the same year so that people will be interested in rebuying their phones once they have an infrastructure up.
Click to expand...

Given that we are only early in the tablet cycle I wouldn't be willing to write them off just yet ... Netbooks for sure are doomed but they were always kind of an inbetween type option ... once phones and tablets in the same price range became available they pretty much killed that form factor

I would rank them along these lines:

Netbook - dead or extremely niche (they will get pinched from the low end by more powerful phones and tablets and the high end by true notebooks/ultrabooks coming down in price)

mp3 - small form factor will be okay since it serves the exercise and ultramobility crowd, the larger form factors will get killed by the phones (which can perform most of those functions in addition to their other duties)

phones - the smart phone will continue to boom and become the new default form factor (unless something like Google Glass somehow disrupts them)

tablets - I think they will survive due to thei versatility ... if you don't need a full powered laptop they are fantastic as a casual computing device ... with hybrids you can get a lot of the functionality of the laptop (when you need it) and the portability of the tablet (when you need that) ... medicine has already gone all in on tablets and they will be unlikely to replace them with phablets (in my opinion) ... tablets also work well as large GPS devices and entertainment devices in Trains, Planes, and Automobiles

I think BB is stuck with a certain strategy now and they have no choice to try and convince themselves and everyone that is the right strategy ... might be a tough sell :cool:
 
Perhaps they should try the playbook again instead of knocking all the successful tablets, just because their attempt at a tablet was abysmal doesn't mean everyone else was

we use ipads for business here, and 1 surface pro, we can go on site show engineering drawings, take photos, make reports, get hand written signature, apply engineering stamps and stuff it all into a pdf and email it off all onsite with an ipad...surface pro works too but the MS ui is still clumsy when it comes to touch screen, slightly better with the pen...the playbook was just a flop, blackberry is just too far behind the times to make something decent anymore, bb10 is a good example we heard of that what 3 or 4 years ago, back then it would have been great but now.... its too late people were stuck with nice bold 9900 with an ugly POS OS for the last couple of years waiting or bought into something else, the playbook OS wasn't even complete on release
 
Obviously RIM/Blackberry have no notion of a market niche. The exploited one out of sheer dumb luck. They just cant understand why lightning wont strike twice.

Apple seems to be going down the same slope, but for other reasons. Arrogance.
 
wonderfield said:
The Mojave ads
The Jerry Seinfeld/Bill Gates ads
The new Outlook ads
The Surface and Surface Pro dancing ads, obviously
The Windows 8 "kid paints on touch display" ad
Click to expand...

Wow, all those and you couldn't remember the awesome xbox commercial with all the people shooting each other with "hand" guns. Cue the finger banging!
 
“In five years, I see BlackBerry to be the absolute leader in mobile computing"
Someone slipped this guy LSD before the interview.
 
Wrecked Em said:
After buying a phone with a sufficiently sized screen, I've had no need for a 10" tablet at all. I don't see this changing any time soon.
Click to expand...
Bigger devices tend to be more powerful than smaller devices, dollar for dollar, and bigger screens can be useful in some applications.

Believe it or not, I just bought the latest 4th gen iPad, and it is considerably faster than the iPhone.

It has the screen size and apps that I want for my niches (controlling/monitoring my foscam cameras and working as an affordable glass panel GPS + weather for when I'm piloting) and is generally a more comfortable size to use around the house in between that as a "magazine" while on the shitter or just couch-browsing while watching TV.

IMO tablets and laptops are merging, and I don't really see the need to have both, so I just have a Blackberry work phone, an iPad, and my giant extremely powerful massive storage capacity dual-GPU desktop tower in the office w/ a high resolution 30" Dell U3011 for more serious duty work, video editing, and playing games.
 
And yes, I might have been able to just use a Windows 8 convertible laptop instead, but its hard to get it as thin and light and easy to suction-cup mount as you can an iPad for my use, and while yes its more versitile it's also a bit redundant when I'm at home since I'd much rather use a real full size keyboard, mouse, bigass screen, with a much more powerful system instead.

With smartphones, tablets, laptops, and desktops though you certainly start running into major redundancy issues though if you try to "collect em all".
 
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