RIM Starts to Preview New Blackberry | Jeff Kagan Tech Analyst

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Jeff KAGAN

Tech Analyst

     

RIM Starts to Preview New Blackberry | Jeff Kagan Tech Analyst

RIM will start showing their new Blackberry to carriers in the next few days. Let’s hope they have finally got their stuff together.

Carriers want new competitors to the dominant Apple iPhone and Google Android. So do consumers. So where are these new devices and operating systems?

RIM has the potential to be one of the new operating systems in the exploding smart phone space if they can make the leap from yesterday to tomorrow. Can they is the question?

Will RIM be able to recover and recapture market share with their new Blackberry 10? This is the question everyone want’s to know the answer to.

The new RIM Blackberry is getting closer to hitting the market and the question is still being asked. Will this be the one? Will this restart RIM’s engines? Will this be the next big operating system?

I had dinner with Blackberry executives a few months ago and had the chance to ask some important questions.

At the time I wasn’t convinced they knew what they had to do, to turn things around.

Crashing and burning describes RIM over the last several years. They dominated the smart phone space five years ago. Then the Apple iPhone and Google Android hit the market and RIM has been going down ever since.

Apple, Google and Samsung have been growing as fast as RIM has been failing. This is the key battleground they need to be a player in. Forget about winning. Android and iPhone are winning. But RIM has to be able to compete. Can they is the question.

Just during the last year RIM market share fell sharply from a range of 12% to 5% today. They have been on a steep drop over the last several years.

The first two Blackberry 10 devices are getting ready to launch early next year. One is a more traditional style with keyboard and touch screen, and the other strictly a touch screen like the iPhone.

Many users still love the physical keyboard and just can’t get that on an iPhone.

So if the rest of the device can at least be up in the same league as the iPhone then they stand a chance.

The problem is as of a few months ago my impression was the phones would not be in the same league. At the time the Internet browser, which is key, was no where near the iPhone and Android browser. The Apps were very limited in numbers, and so on.

I like RIM. I like Blackberry. I carry a Blackberry as one of my phones. I want them to succeed. I just don’t see it yet.

But we can hope.

Since I met with them they have delayed rollout of the new devices and operating systems. It is possible they are re-working some of what the Blackberry does.

The good news is their BB10 operating system will operate both the new Blackberry phones and the new PlayBook tablet. So they have begun to think in the right direction.

Let’s hope this goes far enough to matter.

Will carriers fall in love with the new BB10 phones and tablets? Falling in love and getting excited is what the carriers need to get them to market and advertise them.

Carriers need to build their own business, not worry about a handset maker.

BB10 is an improvement. Good. The question is, it enough of an improvement to make a difference?

Remember, this has to be an improvement over the old Blackberry and over existing winners like iPhone and Google who keep upping the ante themselves. So this is not just about RIM and their Blackberry and their new operating system, but this is also about the entire industry which keeps getting better every year itself.

One important Blackberry feature could be to sell the phone along with a backup battery. And the charger should rapidly charge both batteries overnight, at the same time. That would be one advantage over the iPhone.

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These comments may be quoted in news stories. They are being sent by email list and on the web.

Please attribute to Jeff Kagan, Tech Industry Analyst with www.jeffKAGAN.com

If you would like to discuss, call me at 770-579-5810 or send an email to jeff@JeffKAGAN.com

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Jeff KAGAN| Tech Industry Analyst www.jeffKAGAN.com

Analyst sharing perspective on the changing industry for 25 years

~ Also Columnist, Author, Consultant, Speaker
~ Column http://www.ectnews.com/perl/section/jeff_kagan/

Phone 770-579-5810 Email jeff@jeffKAGAN.com

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