Did RIM just shoot themselves in the head?

[preslove]

M$ is likely giving BB a bunch of $ for this.

 

[thescreensavers]

They're Storm and Storm 2 didnt go over so well.
I suspect the standard business user thinks of display-only phones as multimedia toys, not work tools.

No shit, the storm 1 got extremely bad rep for the whole clicking screen when the device was released, the Storm 1 also had horrible memory issues. I had a storm one and hated it after a month. The Storm 2 fixed the alpha device and the Storm 2 is the beta device, I think by the final product Storm 3 they should have it down.

 

[Deeko]

M$ is likely giving BB a bunch of $ for this.

Of course they are. Which is another reason why this is a good deal for RIM. Lets say the super Bing haters that were going to a Blackberry now don't. That's a loss for RIM - but its most likely still less than the amount Microsoft is paying them. So RIMs revenue still goes up, their profit margins go up, everyone wins. Except Google, I guess, unless those defectors go to Android, in which case, they win too.

 

[gsaldivar]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/tec...ows-phone-at-blackberry-world-conference.html

Wow, you just can't make this stuff up...

"This announcement, by Microsoft, was the biggest news to come from the BlackBerry World conference keynote," Eric Zeman of InformationWeek wrote in the report. "But Ballmer didn't stop there. Oh, no. He actually pitched Windows Phone 7 to the audience, albeit briefly.

Read that again: Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, took the stage at BlackBerry World and pitched Windows Phone 7, its competing smartphone platform.

"Microsoft just owned RIM at RIM's own event.

What was RIM thinking?"

 

[ImpulsE69]

Shorty, it isn't that business people think of them as toys, but the Storm/Storm 2 touch screens are horrible. I have to use one for work and absolutely hate it. It sucks for email. It sucks for getting up at 3AM trying to fumble your p/w to get into it. It just plain sucks. Give me a keyboard anyday. I have an android phone as well, and while it's touchscreen is better, I still use the keyboard. There is something to be said about being able to feel your way around.

Add to that the fact many people using these for business have them locked down to where you can do very little so all that "extra" crap they throw in phones is worthless. It is used for phone and email and occasionally SMS, that's about it. In this day and age, any large company concerned with security and paying for your phone doesn't care if you can get on facebook on your phone.

 

[shortylickens]

No shit, the storm 1 got extremely bad rep for the whole clicking screen when the device was released, the Storm 1 also had horrible memory issues. I had a storm one and hated it after a month. The Storm 2 fixed the alpha device and the Storm 2 is the beta device, I think by the final product Storm 3 they should have it down.

Yeah but what kind of reputation will they have by then? If RIM takes 3 whole versions to finally get it right the average business user may have completely lost interest by then.

Apple showed us that you really need to a get a lot done correctly the first time out so as to establish and maintain a loyal user base. RIM has too diverse a product line to keep any one type of user attached forever.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Yeah but what kind of reputation will they have by then? If RIM takes 3 whole versions to finally get it right the average business user may have completely lost interest by then.

Apple showed us that you really need to a get a lot done correctly the first time out so as to establish and maintain a loyal user base. RIM has too diverse a product line to keep any one type of user attached forever.

WTF has any of this got to do with Bing?

 

[JS80]

LOL, I'll order my coffin when I'm making $20bn a year, too.

Where's Palm?

 

[Pliablemoose]

Google Maps/Nav are so much better than Bing, there is virtually no comparison.

Rim allowing Balmer to pimp a W7 phone at their own event is pretty sad.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Where's Palm?

Dude, you need to find another thread to troll.

Palm Revenue for the full fiscal year 2008 was $1.32 billion.
Palm revenues for the full fiscal year 2009 were $735.9 million.

2010, Palm bought for 5% of RIM's yearly revenue. :hmm:

 

[JS80]

Dude, you need to find another thread to troll.


2010, Palm bought for 5% of RIM's yearly revenue. :hmm:

You don't really get the concept of future forecasting huh?

 

[poofyhairguy]

What is interesting is that BB and MS are the most natural competitors in the cell phone market. Both have deep inroads in the business community, and both are vying for the crucial third place position. In fact, one could say that modern BB exists because MS failed to properly extend onto the mobile marketspace previously. So by teaming together, maybe they ensure they both survive in the mobile market?

MS has a good mobile OS and dominance in the desktop space, but doesn't have the trust BB does.
BB has trust built on unparalleled corporate support, but doesn't have the best hardware talent (even though it now has a decent mobile OS).
Nokia has the hardware talent, but doesn't have the software or the trust of large corporations.

A triumvirate of the three would likely be a pretty competitive market offering.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I think it's a mistake for RIM to form alliances with MS, everything MS touches turns to shit except their OS's and office products.

RIM's long term plans are actually pretty interesting, but it's now that counts.

Were they to have put QNX on phones and developed a compelling touchscreen phone with QNX and BBM & BES management, they'd have been hailed as geniuses.

What they did instead was to pour a ton of cash into tablet development and put the QNX OS'd phones on a back burner. The money they earn from the PlayBook, even if it's wildly successful is nothing compared to the revenue generated from phone sales even now.

What'll be interesting is if they can stand the heat till they bring out a touchscreen QNX phone, or end up in big trouble financially.

As it stands, one or both of the Co CEO's needs to be canned for their lack of foresight....

 

[poofyhairguy]

I think it's a mistake for RIM to form alliances with MS, everything MS touches turns to shit except their OS's and office products.

Their newest mobile OS is pretty nice, and the Kinect outright rocks.

 

[Deeko]

A triumvirate of the three would likely be a pretty competitive market offering.

Nokia phone running Windows Phone 7 connecting to BES? Nice.

I think it's a mistake for RIM to form alliances with MS, everything MS touches turns to shit except their OS's and office products.

Actually, Microsoft has been doing pretty damn well lately. As you already mentioned, Windows and Office are still doing great, Kinect is the fastest selling consumer electronics product in history, XBox 360 as a whole has done very well, their cloud computing platforms are growing rapidly, IE9 is a huge step forward from IE8, Windows Phone 7 isn't a huge sales hit yet but its been generally well received, and like it or hate it, Bing has been steadily growing in market share since it launched in 2009. Not *everything* they do succeeds, but when a company is that massive and involved in that many areas, how can it?

 

[Pliablemoose]

Whoops, forgot about MS's gaming division, and I have to admit their phone OS is pretty good.