> To sum up, RIM is at risk because its natural market is saturating and many of its customers are considering a switch to other platforms. The company may be able to bumble along in this situation for years before the problem comes to a head, but once a migration away from BlackBerry starts it would be almost impossible to stop. So if the company wants to ensure its survival, it needs to act now. Two steps are needed:
>
> –The BlackBerry line needs to be given a several fundamental, visionary innovations that will give its core customers a reason to stay; and
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> –The company needs to change its development process to guarantee proper design and integration in all of its products.
>
> Given the time needed to create a new product, these changes will take at least 18 months to bear fruit, probably more like two years. During that time RIM will remain at risk of a platform collapse. What’s worse, the company’s engineers already have their hands full copying iPhone features, customizing phones for a huge range of operators, and simultaneously creating a new operating system and developing a new version of the current one. The sort of changes I’m suggesting would disrupt that work, forcing the cancellation of some projects and slips in the schedule for others. They would make the problem worse before they make it better. In the meantime, the company would lose serious revenue, and might even miss earnings projections for a quarter or two. The stock’s value would be trashed, and there would be calls for firing management.
>
> As the founders of the company, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis could probably pull this off without losing their jobs. And I know they have the courage to make big changes. But I doubt they can see the need, or especially the urgency. Their current processes and business practices got them to $15 billion in revenue; why should they change now? It’s much more prudent to focus on making the numbers for next quarter.
>
> That’s probably just what RIM will do. And if it does, that’s why the company will probably eventually fail.
via [mobileopportunity.blogspot.com](http://mobileopportunity.blogspot.com/2010/10/whats-really-wrong-with-blackberry-and.html)
This is an older article that I meant to post about a long time ago. But it’s an excellent, thorough analysis why RIM is losing, and it’s not what most people assume.
When I saw the PlayBook tablet announcement, I immediately thought that RIM has a serious problem with forgetting who its loyal customer base is. It’s chasing after Apple’s audience, instead of redoubling efforts to hold on to the current audience of Enterprise business professionals. A tablet aimed squarely at the serious business professional would have been a much smarter choice for a product. It could have cut off enthusiasm for the iPad in the Enterprise, which in turn would have dulled enthusiasm for the iPhone in the Enterprise. Instead, what the PlayBook does is assure Enterprise users that the iPad is as good as RIM’s tablet at being a serious business tool. If the PlayBook is seen only as a hip consumer device, why wouldn’t customers just go for the hipper, better consumer device? Stupid, stupid, stupid.
As I’ve said before, the only thing people should be copying from Apple is the STRATEGY. Build products that complement your other products. Make your customers want to buy everything you make, and make them keep buying your products instead of someone else’s. With the Torch and now the PlayBook, RIM is trying to change its image; it’s copying Apple’s actual products, instead of the philosophy driving those products.
But you can’t beat Apple at slick, clean, consumer electronics. No one can.
Believe me, if Sony can’t do it, RIM certainly can’t.
