Comparing Apple to RIM is the same, apples to oranges?

[gaidensensei]

Something on my mind in comparing between the two companies.

RIM has its own lineup of products, dominated the smartphone field for awhile. RIM products didn't stray far from the main design.

Same with apple being a proprietary company with a proprietary OS. If looking at it one way, the design and implementation of the iphone lineup hasn't really changed from the iPhone 2G or first one whatever. Speaking on innovation-wise terms, rather than hardware. If they're gonna keep releasing products that have the same functionality, didn't that eventually fail RIM?

Even my iPod looks nearly same as the iPhone, more or less.

opinions on this?

 

[runawayprisoner]

Fundamental difference: Apple has iTunes, RIM only had their phones.

Another way to look at it is Apple took RIM's successful approach to phone hardware and software, added services to it, and is now in control of everything from top to bottom.

Will Apple fail? I have no doubt they will run out of steam with iOS. But when that happens, a simple solution is to promote iOS to be Mac OS replacement, and write a new OS to be used on phones. It seems like a pretty sustainable strategy so far.

In fact, if the coming cheap iPhone would run something akin to a lite iOS, then that means we have reached the end of a cycle and onto the next...

See, Apple is not RIM. they sell everything from the phone, to its spinoff, to its accessories, to the network it connects to, to the apps it uses, and heck, even the computer you plug the phone in.

It's crazy, but you'll never see them take a nosedive unless somehow their other businesses go down all of a sudden.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

No, the user experience (OS) is what sets them apart.
If the OS is good from the start, then they can afford to go several generations without an overhaul.
The minor, incremental changes have been doing iOS just fine.

BB OS was shit right off the bat, but there was no competition at the time so nobody really knew how bad that shit stank.
Palm OS was actually better, but BB already had a stronghold on the corporate world, and the consumer market was non-existent then.

Android really shook things up, and its apparent with the growth and market share they currently have, but they didn't really bring anything new to the table. So they're not really in position to knock iOS off their pedestal.

It's going to take something ground shattering in the smartphone OS world to do to apple what apple did to RIM, assuming apple stagnates as RIM did.

 

[silverpig]

Fundamental difference: Apple has iTunes, RIM only had their phones.

Apple has iTunes

RIM has BES

One could argue that iTunes is the consumer equivalent of BES.

 

[mammador]

RIM has failed, IMO, due to complacency and poor marketing practice.

Apple has been at the front of smartphone design and functionality, and to be fair HTC and Samsung haven't been fair behind. But Blackberrys don't at all have the same feel as an iOS or Android phone, this is why RIM is failing. RIM essentially came into prominence by promoting e-mail sync, but surely as things stand now e-mail sync and PDA-esque functionality is per standard in any smartphone. It's like an IBM clone with an SD slot, or even a wi-fi NIC, they're expected.

 

[runawayprisoner]

Apple has iTunes

RIM has BES

One could argue that iTunes is the consumer equivalent of BES.

iTunes as a network is not really BES.

The iTunes network also houses a market for music, apps, movies, and books... among other things.

If anything, I think iCloud is more like BES.

 

[silverpig]

iTunes as a network is not really BES.

The iTunes network also houses a market for music, apps, movies, and books... among other things.

If anything, I think iCloud is more like BES.

Higher level. It's a software/service that enhances customer retention for their hardware.


If you have an iPhone 3GS, you'll likely get an iPhone 5 because you have a ton of music and apps through iTunes.

If you work for a company with BES, your next phone will likely be a Bold 9900 because of BES.

 

[Mopetar]

I think that recent history has already shown that this is not true. RIM sat on its hands when Apple first launched the iPhone, and only now have they really started putting a lot of ernest effort into catching up in terms of phone design. Apple, on the other hand, has constantly been improving their platform in as many ways as possible. The next version of iOS is offering a service similar to BBM, showing that Apple definitely isn't standing still.

RIM failed due to inability or ineptitude. Everyone had a chance to see where Apple was headed. Google decided that this was clearly the future and that the BB was the past, quickly changing Android. Palm saw the writing on the wall and immediately started making WebOS. Microsoft eventually got the message and released WP7 and has the financial reserves to show up late to the game. RIM doesn't.