The surprise name change, which takes effect immediately, was announced by CEO Thorsten Heins at an event in New York to launch the company's new BlackBerry 10 operating system and smartphones.
"Our customers use the BlackBerry, our employees work for BlackBerry, and our shareholders are owners of BlackBerry. From today on, we are BlackBerry everywhere in the world," he said at the event, which was broadcast. Compare Apple Computer changing its name to Apple Inc with the launch of the iPhone. Any other tech name changes spring to mind?]]>
This is largely because the market is dominated by two platforms: Android, which is seen as an unsecure malware magnet, and iOS, which comes from a firm that has never learned to spell "IT." In fact, Apple's biggest failures were Lisa and the Apple Server, both created on Steve Jobs' watch (Lisa was even his product, initially) and both targeted at the IT market.
While phones and tablets are largely a consumer play, they are increasingly being used for business. Even in a BYOD world, IT still has a great deal of say about the hardware connected to its networks and services. As we start 2013, and as RIM brings out its next-generation products, the company will stand alone as the only mobile solutions provider focused on IT first and the needs of users later. This one's a keeper. Check back in 12 months.]]>
Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins, who will introduce the BlackBerry 10 operating system next month, told analysts on a Dec. 20 conference call that RIM faces pressure to reduce fees to “stay relevant in our markets.” The Waterloo, Ontario-based company dropped the most in more than four years on Dec. 21 in Toronto. Carriers pay RIM a monthly per-subscriber fee. But for the past two quarters, RIM and carriers have been saying the same thing: the smartphone maker's ability to keep that fee up has dropped.]]>
During the quarter, RIM shipped approximately 6.9m BlackBerry smartphones and approximately 255,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets. That's the lowest smartphone shipments since the same period in 2009. It had an operating loss of $230m, and most crucially of all lost subscribers - 80m previous quarter, 79m this. That last figure is the really dangerous one.
Also: RIM's quarter ended 1 December. The BB10 phones are being announced on 30 January. So that's two months of the current quarter without new products. ]]>
"One of the really important things for Yahoo's strategy moving forward is mobile," she said. "So it was really important that our engineers, our salespeople, really everyone throughout our whole organization really understand Android, iPhones, and, you know, Windows 8 and really get a sense of what's happening there and how to create an amazing experience... so we decided we wanted to get everyone upgraded to smartphones."BURN. As you might imagine, Crackberry's readers aren't delighted at being dissed in this way.]]>
"These Apple devices will replace the NTSB’s existing blackberry devices, which have been failing both at inopportune times and at an unacceptable rate.]]>
The hardware varies in the absence of a home button and the inclusion of a red LED light that flashes when a message comes in. According to earlier announcements by [Thorsten] Heins, RIM is also making a model with a physical keyboard. Steady as she goes. Also: the description of BB10 makes it sound a lot like Windows Phone.]]>
“The browser team here at RIM has been working closely with the HTML5 experts at Facebook, who developed the Ringmark HTML5 test suite, to ensure the BlackBerry 10 browser would meet the standard,” writes Matthew Staikos today on the RIM developer blog. "All we need is a browser that can pass these tests, and we can clean up in the smartphone market."]]>
Our informant described the atmosphere in the Slough HQ as "sub-Arctic".
In a back-of-the-beer-mat (BOTBM) calculation, the Reg reckons that if 5,000 jobs are to go at RIM this year, and 3,000 went in North America in August, then circa 1,000 to 1,500 people are likely to be facing redundancy in Europe. Depressing.]]>
To take a smaller example, Twitter swapped out co-founder Evan Williams and replaced him with Dick Costolo, someone with no personal stake in the early vision of the network. Has that been a good thing or a bad thing? It has certainly changed the orientation of the company towards revenue-generating models like advertising — a move that appears to be driven primarily by a desire to justify the company’s alleged market value. Would it have been better to stick with a founder as CEO? And if it wasn’t better for Twitter, then why is it better for Facebook? ]]>
RIM Chief Executive Thorsten Heins, in a briefing with The Wall Street Journal, said the company will show two "beta" versions of its new phones to carriers during the five-week roadshow. The meetings will test RIM's credibility as it tries to regain its footing in the global smartphone market. Two phones initially, one all touchscreen, one with a keyboard. Eventually, there will be six phones: three touchscreen ones. The sentiment that comes out of carriers in the next few weeks will be telling. (Article may be paywalled.) ]]>
RIM declined to comment on the sale report. Buy high, sell low. ]]>
"Given recent management comments in the press, it now appears that RIM is realizing what Wall Street has been saying for some time: they are a subscale manufacturer and desperately need a partner," Misek wrote in a research note on Tuesday.
"We believe RIM is attempting to revive discussions with Samsung regarding a BB10 licensing deal." Samsung never saw a mobile phone licence it didn't want to licence.]]>
A classic example of why stock buybacks are always a sign of management losing its focus. ]]>
On a recent late morning last week, the store here was empty except for salesman Nathan Speidel, the lone figure behind the counter.
Twelve miles away, the Apple outlet in Troy's upscale Somerset Collection was buzzing like a digital beehive. At one moment, there were 42 consumers in the store, which has about four times the square footage of the BlackBerry outlet. No fewer than 21 blue-shirted Apple representatives counseled shoppers on their purchases of iPods, iPhones and iPads — four behind the store's "Genius Bar" counter to answer Apple owners' toughest questions.]]>
On the heels of RIM’s major loss and struggles to put out a new operating system and phones, Duarte said [in an ABC interview] he would love to work with the BlackBerry maker. “If RIM wanted to work on Android devices, I would really welcome that. They clearly make great physical keyboards.” Android devices with physical keyboards? Like the G1, you mean? (Via @modelportfolio2003. But please, original links, not rewrites of rewrites of rewrites.)]]>
Gelblum models the company adding 2.8m new subscribers this quarter, and selling 5.8m devices. That’s actually up from his prior estimates, and his revenue goes higher as well, to $2.19bn, with a net loss [per share] of 26 cents. But that’s still below the consensus for $2.92bn in revenue and a 2-cent loss. Those revenue and phone shipment numbers would be RIM's smallest since the same period in 2008. (RIM reports its results on Thursday evening UK time.)]]>
Not anymore.
It's now actually possible to take the best facial expressions from a sequence of photos, and then combine them into one single photo. The result? It's now quick and easy to create the perfect group shot. This does indeed look like the technology that's going to be in the BlackBerry 10 systems. (Thanks @GCday for the link.)]]>
Instead, they released something uninspired, uninteresting, and unfinished. That no one at RIM had the guts and authority to recognize the seriousness of their situation–the company is literally dying!–and say, “Hey, maybe we should wait until BlackBerry 10 is awesome before we release it,” is an ultimate demonstration of how RIM's culture will lead to its now inevitable demise. This is what happens when the sales people are in charge. Only one word for that: ouch.]]>
"Is it going to turn around in three months, six months, nine months? No," said Watsa, chief executive of insurer Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. "But if you're looking four, five years ... We make investments over four or five years." Duly noted. (Thanks Graeme Dunn for the link.)]]>
What the analysis does not answer is when a vendor loses its independence after beginning loss making. Motorola took 20 quarters; Sony Ericsson 14, Ericsson 8 and Siemens only 7. We cannot tell if or when LG which is still operating after 8 and Nokia, which is now in its fourth and RIM in its second quarter post-loss will lose independence. The mobile phone business is brutal.]]>
RIM is considering hiring one Canadian bank and one global bank, said one of the people, who asked to remain anonymous because the deliberations are private. In the wings, the Fat Lady is doing her vocal warmups.]]>