Why RIM is no Nortel

http://www.markevanstech.com/2011/06/23/six-reasony-why-rim-is-no-nortel/

by woohoo • 15 years ago

18 20 15 years ago

pragmatic• 15 years ago

"RIM is highly profitable with lots of cash, which should provide it with a healthy financial cushion to figure out how to ride out the storm."

I don't think this is a storm. This is more like armageddon for RIM.

They have a clunky product that people don't _want_. People want iPhones and Android devices. People ask for them by name.

someone133• 15 years ago

See, not everyone wants the latest iWhatever. I quite like the BlackBerry, actually - it's not flashy, gets far more battery life than nearly any other mobile device, has BBM (which is still, in my opinion, one of the best mobile chat platforms out there), and can do email/web browsing.

Yeah, there's not as many apps, and yeah, it's not all shiny like the iWhatever, or quite as open and easy to develop for as Android, but it's very stable and reliable. And there's something to be said for that.

digamber_kamat• 15 years ago

Blackberry has few years of profitability at their disposal. Consider the Indian market. Blackberry is spreading here almost like a wildfire. The reason is that it is an incredible smartphone at very affordable price. iPhone is almost thrice costlier than BB and the data plans double the cost of BB data plans.

In my opinion QNX holds key to BB's future. I had opportunity to work with QNX and I know it as a very powerful operating system that can run metro rails and nuclear reactors. I feel BB should relax and take their time to build the next OS based on QNX.

sjs• 15 years ago

Was that dig at Android and iOS's reliability intentional? I find iOS very stable and reliable (started with iPhone OS 3.0).

Android less so but not too bad. My Nexus One had an occasional problem with the lock screen in 2.2 that has since been fixed. It was a terrible bug when it decided to strike, had to turn the phone off and on.

Your comments about Android being "open" & "easy" to develop for and "iWhatever"s being "shiny" makes me think you're judging these platforms from afar instead of being in the trenches using them all and developing for them all. Just fyi they raised the "this guy is not objective" flags.

garyrichardson2• 15 years ago

Have you ever used an iPhone (or Android) for an extended period of time?

Anecdote: I don't know a single person that switch from a BB to an iPhone or Android that has regretted it or will ever switch back. This group includes some pretty hard code BB fans.

ZeroGravitas• 15 years ago

At least in the UK, plenty of young folk do want Blackberries.

I believe this is some combination of emulating rap stars (who are in turn emulating drug dealers), cheaper than true smartphone data plans and BBM and then a self-re-enforcing fashion feedback loop.

garyrichardson2• 15 years ago

I've heard this argument before, but I haven't seen the numbers to back it up (outside of 'emerging markets').

RIM is like typewriter companies in the 90's. They are selling typewriters and they are trying to compete with computers by making more sophisticated typewriters. There may be some people around who still prefer typewriters because they're cheaper, better for X,Y,Z, but at the end of the day their advantage is gone.

Typhon• 15 years ago

I just got myself a Blackberry. It was a promotional offer by my phone company, and I had choice between it and touchscreen phones. I hate touchscreens and I suspect I'm not the only one. Phones with an actual keyboard have a future.

cryptoz• 15 years ago

You're not the only one, but there are very few of you. I know a couple of people that swear by physical keyboards and they are seriously hardcore about it. But I know 200 more that hate hate hate hardware keyboards.

Phones with a hardware keyboard have a future, but it's a small future and it's not one that can sustain a company like RIM.

ianbishop• 15 years ago

Couldn't disagree more in Canada. There are lots of young people sporting Blackberrys (lack of cash, praise of BBM).

p_h• 15 years ago

The Blackberry does have some advantages over other consumer smart phones. RIM's built a lot of infrastructure for dealing with corporate clients and security. It's probably going to be a long time before the president of the United States switches from a Blackberry.

canistr• 15 years ago

Interesting insight into RIM and Nortel. It's rather refreshing to read this compared to the sensationalistic articles written by other tech blogs and the media who don't really understand either RIM nor Nortel.

jammur2• 15 years ago

“With the right strategic execution, significant improvements in the half-baked Playbook and a big dose of luck, RIM could keep its status as a tier-one smartphone maker.”

I really take issue with this statement. First, what evidence is there that RIM’s management are capable of “the right strategic execution”? They’ve had no credible response to the iPhone in the 4 years since it was released, and to Android in the 3 years since it’s first hardware release. A new entrant came into a market that RIM essentially created, and they did nothing for 4 years. I don’t think it’s valid to use the company’s performance in the time leading up to the iPhone, when RIM had no credible competition, as a predictor of future success. The moment a credible competitor began to encroach on their market, they had no response. IMO this is a much better indicator of future performance in the face of dominant competition.

“significant improvements in the half-baked Playbook”

Again, what evidence is there that this will happen. The first Storm was, by all accounts, a massive failure. The Storm 2 was too little, too late. The current management was responsible for both. People love to talk about how Apple came back from the dead, but what they forget is that Apple was driven to the brink of death by someone other than Steve Jobs. Steve Jobs came back and brought Apple to where it is today. Had the existing management remained in place, they would have undoubtedly gone bankrupt. RIM desperately needs a change of management.

“a big dose of luck”

With a big dose of luck, the 6/49 could make me millionaire. But you can be sure I’m not making investment decisions based on those odds.

mailarchis• 15 years ago

There is a surprising fact I stumbled upon when i visited Panama couple of weeks back. Blackberries rule in Latin America (at least from what i saw in Panama and heard)

Maybe Blackberry is losing out in states but is still going strong in other places.

suprgeek• 15 years ago

No Not Nortel but from a corporate perspective a little bit like Sun maybe. Making Outdated Phones for an enterprise market that has move on, relying on an humongous installed user baser, making weird technology bets, and half-hearted attempts at emerging markets like Tablets. Sound almost like Sun with Solaris, Java, MySQL and VirtualBox. I think Microsoft will play the Role of Oracle as the last act :)

bryanwb• 15 years ago

RIM seems worse off than nortel. Individuals can change mobile phones much faster than companies can change telephony infrastructures.

goalieca• 15 years ago

RIM was caught off guard. They were hiring many new positions here in Ottawa (home of Nortel) and even others they own like QNX were hiring. RIM has now in fact announced they will be making layoffs instead. This doesn't help for confidence in the leadership if they didn't see this coming.

Why RIM is no Nortel

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