The Wall Street Journal has
a feature story detailing the missteps that led to RIM's downfall.
While the reasons varied from lack of communication between the ex
co-CEOs, mismanagement and the emergence of the iPhone and Android
phones, the story reveals a few interesting details about carriers and
what they thought of the iPhone.
Most carriers, no surprise here, didn't
like that the iPhone was gaining popularity amongst their subscriber
base, and that they would have to relinquish control to Apple in order
to carry the iPhone.
The whole piece outlines how RIM ignored
the changing market, refused to acknowledge internal as well as
external signals, and lived in a state of denial until the entire market
tide shifted to iOS and Android. Its most important customer base, the
enterprise,
In RIM's latest quarterly earnings, the
company announced 5,000 layoffs, a half a billion dollar loss, and the
delay of its BlackBerry 10 smartphone OS to early next year.
has also started adopting alternate platforms, although most
of RIM's revenues still come from this segment.
So many carriers, anticipating the
rising popularity of the iPhone, approached Research In Motion to
develop a phone that could compete with the iPhone. The BlackBerry Storm
was a result of Vodafone and Verizon asking RIM to build this
competitor.
What's most interesting, however, is
that AT&T, the carrier with exclusive US rights to the iPhone up
till early 2011, also asked RIM to build a touchscreen rival to the
iPhone. The BlackBerry Torch was the result of RIM-AT&T's
collaboration. From WSJ's story:
[AT&T] approached RIM about a plan to develop a touch-screen rival to the iPhone, said two former RIM executives. The chief of AT&T's mobile division visited RIM's research and development team in Waterloo to stress how important it was for AT&T to have a successful BlackBerry product to sell, according to people familiar with the visit. RIM said the objective of the visit was to develop "a differentiated, unique BlackBerry experience for AT&T customers."[...]A RIM-AT&T collaboration resulted in the BlackBerry Torch, say people familiar with the effort, but it was hobbled by hardware and software shortcomings.
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