Blackberry Is Dead (Soon)

[supashot]

BlackBerry Maker Posts Massive Loss, New Handset Delays, Layoffs

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion posted a huge loss for its Q1 2013 fiscal quarter.

During the three months that ended on June 2, 2012, the Canadian handset manufacturer reported a $518 million loss on a revenue of $2.8 billion ($0.37 per diluted share), according to a press release published Thursday.

New BlackBerry 10 devices, which the company had hoped to begin releasing in the fall of 2012, will be delayed until early next year.

RIM will also begin cutting 5,000 jobs as part of a restructuring effort aimed at saving $1 billion in operating costs.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/28/us-rim-results-idUSBRE85R1KG20120628

[Crushdepth]

Didn't learn from Nokia's experience, AKA sticking to a dying platform. But they have some touchscreen models now, woo hoo!

[h90]

strange in our office everyone is crazy for BB. Seems very popular.

[lomatopo]

There are some rumors that Microsoft might purchase RIM.

Blackberry was popular with Corp. IT because of the control and management of the messaging/mail sub-systems, and because users could not muck around with the device. Now Android and Apple have pretty much taken over the Corp. IT market segment.

strange in our office everyone is crazy for BB. Seems very popular.

It's popular because of the essentially free messaging. Once people see apps. like WhatsApp! they drop a BB like the crap product it is, and get an Android or iPhone.

[Pib]

What goes up must come down (except maybe taxes).    RIM products are falling out style...happens to most companies/products eventually....even Apple will probably experience such a downfall sooner or later.

[lomatopo]

An interesting article from ~ 6 months ago...

BLACKBERRY SEASON

by James Surowiecki

FEBRUARY 13, 2012

Five years ago, Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, was one of the most acclaimed technology companies in the world. The BlackBerry dominated the smartphone market, was a staple of the business world, and had helped make texting a mainstream practice. Terrifically profitable, the phone became a cultural touchstone—in 2006, a Webster’s dictionary made “CrackBerry” its word of the year.

These days, it seems more like the SlackBerry. Thanks to the iPhone and Android devices, R.I.M.’s smartphone market share has plummeted; in the U.S., according to one estimate, it fell from forty-four per cent in 2009 to just ten per cent last year. The BlackBerry’s reputed addictiveness now looks like a myth; a recent study found that only a third of users planned to stick with it the next time they upgraded. R.I.M.’s stock price is down seventy-five per cent in the past year, and two weeks ago the company was forced to bring in a new C.E.O. The Times wondered recently whether the BlackBerry will go the way of technological dodoes like the pager.

More...

http://www.newyorker.com/talk/financial/2012/02/13/120213ta_talk_surowiecki

[TommoPhysicist]

Whatsapp works fine on my Blackberry, same as my Galaxy.

Don't even need the RIM server working, all works over wifi.

Blackberry is failing because it forces customers to pay extra for the RIM server, and cripples most of the apps and gps if you don't pay.

Edited July 2, 2012 by TommoPhysicist

[lomatopo]

Whatsapp works fine on my Blackberry, same as my Galaxy.

Don't even need the RIM server working, all works over wifi.

I think most people prefer to use messaging apps. everywhere, not just when they have access to a Wifi hotspot.

BB was popular here primarily because of the low-cost data plans and unlimited messaging.

Once people realize that there are free unlimited messaging apps., like WhatsApp!, which use relatively little mobile data they drop the BB like it's CrapBerry. Not to mention the handsets are like 5 years behind the curve.

In any event I think everyone agrees that RIM and Nokia are in a race to the bottom. And it does make sense that Microsoft is interested in yet another dying handset maker.

[bobl]

Whatsapp works fine on my Blackberry, same as my Galaxy.

Don't even need the RIM server working, all works over wifi.

I think most people prefer to use messaging apps. everywhere, not just when they have access to a Wifi hotspot.

BB was popular here primarily because of the low-cost data plans and unlimited messaging.

Once people realize that there are free unlimited messaging apps., like WhatsApp!, which use relatively little mobile data they drop the BB like it's CrapBerry. Not to mention the handsets are like 5 years behind the curve.

In any event I think everyone agrees that RIM and Nokia are in a race to the bottom. And it does make sense that Microsoft is interested in yet another dying handset maker.

While I agree with much of what you say, you surely can't be suggesting that whatsapp is a serious alternative to bbm? Whatsapp is "yet another messenger" which needs to be installed. BBM is an OS core messaging system if you have a BB, you have BBM. There IS an important difference. Until today, many of my professional contacts only use BBM. They simply can't be bothered fiddling around installing another messaging app. Furthermore - BB push technology is second to none. It's insane that Blackberry pushes my Gmail accounts better than Google/Android handles them.

Why, why why Google haven't built a simple messaging APP into the core of Android I don't know. BBM is one of the very few reasons my aforementioned contacts haven't switched to Android altogether (most of them, like me, have an Android as a 2nd device).

[lomatopo]

Anytime a CEO uses the term "death spiral" you know there's trouble. What a doofus. Stick a fork in these guys.

No ‘Death Spiral’ for RIM, Chief Executive Says

By IAN AUSTEN

OTTAWA — The share price of Research In Motion is down by about 95 percent, and the company posted a $512 million quarterly loss last week before announcing a delay in a new phone on which it has staked its future. But in a radio interview on Tuesday morning, Thorsten Heins, the chief executive of the BlackBerry maker, said “there’s nothing wrong with the company as it exists right now.”

After last week’s announcement of the worse-than-expected financial results and the delay of the new BlackBerry 10 line to 2013, several analysts questioned RIM’s ability to stay in business. But during the interview, with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Mr. Heins rejected that analysis as well as suggestions that his optimistic outlook is disconnected from reality.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/03/no-death-spiral-for-rim-chief-executive-says/

WhatsApp! and similar messaging apps. more than address the burgeoning application space. WhatsApp! is doing 1 billion messages per month, Kakao in Korea is doing billions of messages per month. RIM's still got the government (U.S.) market, owing to security concerns, but that's about it.