RIM hits 9-year low and it's not looking good » YugaTech

RIM hits 9-year low and it’s not looking good

As RIM’s (Research In Motion) stocks plunges to a 9-year low last Friday, we canâ€™t help but wonder what went wrong for the once glorified company and what the future holds for them and their users.

RIM has been well-known around the world for their BlackBerry devices which were once a staple for both Enterprise and Consumer markets. These devices were popular in corporate ecosystem for being a Secure and Reliable device thanks to its ability to integrate company emails via BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES).

In the consumer market, BBs were once a must-have smartphone especially for youths, mainly because of its BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) through the consumer counterpart of BES BlackBerry Internet Service (BIS) and its QWERTY keyboard.

In short, for almost a decade, the Canadian device manufacturer has solely relied on their devicesâ€™ ability to handle their users need to communicate through typed words (Email and/or IMs) and this seemed to have worked for the company quite well in their earlier years. That is until the arrival of the iPhone and the introduction of Android OS which marks the start of a new era of smartphones and the beginning of the end for BlackBerry.

But credit RIM for weathering the early storm brought by Android and iPhone by managing to still increase their profits and be name â€œthe fastest growing company in the world despite of the recessionâ€ by Fortune Magazine in 2009. But that victory was short-lived as the succeeding year proved to be too much to handle for RIM with the arrival of the iPhone 4 and Google-Samsung Nexus S which is first handset to run on the most popular and still widely-used Android Gingerbread.

In an effort to revive the company from its 2 years slump, RIM announced October of last year that theyâ€™ll be releasing the BlackBerry OS 10 this year. In line with this, they also mentioned that they will be releasing a handful of BBs that will come preinstalled with their new OS.

This would have been a sign of hope for the struggling company but due to unfortunate series of events, the released was delayed until recently the company said that the BB OS 10 will not be available until next year. This announcement has led to their stocks to fall by 19%. And unless they can pull a rabbit out of their hat, theyâ€™ve got to prepare for worse things to come.

In our humble opinion, RIM just werenâ€™t able to keep up with the competition. As technology becomes better and better, the expectations from the consumer also increases. We think that we can all agree that it will take much more than an addictive messenger app and small enhancements to satisfy those demands.

It’s not that there werenâ€™t any efforts on their part; it’s just that those efforts have proven to be insufficient to pull themselves in the hole that theyâ€™re in and compete against mobile OS giants. Even for a non-user standpoint, like me, it’s saddening to see RIM being chewed up alive by Google and Apple. But how ever unfortunate that may be, it’s the dark side of business and technology that we all have live by.

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Ronnie Bulaong

This article was written by Ronnie Bulaong, a special features contributor and correspondent for YugaTech. Follow him on Twitter @turonbulaong.

https://www.yugatech.com

24 Comments

Ligrev says:

12 years ago

At least they have good options.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/06/29/us-rim-options-idUSBRE85S04J20120629
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Paolo says:

12 years ago

Tapos yung mga BB users pa ang mayayabang kasi “IN” daw pag naka-BBM.

FYI, malapit na ma-bankrupt ang RIM. =))
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Lance says:

12 years ago

I was planning to buy the new BB 9320 this August to join the BBM community. I wonder what will happen to all the new BB users if they will go bankrupt? Especially now that Globe and Sun are marketing the BB’s at low monthly plans.
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metre9dmt says:

12 years ago

R I P

RIM

you will be missed by BBM users around the world. 8-(
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benchmark says:

12 years ago

Well i think RIM should tie up exclusively with tactus – the tactile layer panel. This i think the best way to be on top. Having a full screen touch screen with phyical keys that you can feel if u need it.

Blog.gsmarena.com/new-tactile-display-has-buttons-that-rise-out-of-the-screen/
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showbiz says:

12 years ago

RIM perhaps needs to overhaul their BB handset and OS so they can compete with current smartphone models.
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Obed Cutaran says:

12 years ago

As a die hard BlackBerry user, I am trying to look on the positive side. I know the last earnings call and the announcement that the BB10 will be push back to Q1 of 2013 is a hard slap in my face and somehow felt betrayed.

The problem with RIM was they were too arrogant that the market has changed since the release of the iPhone. They thought that its device’s security and awesomely-made-like-walking-in-the-cloud keyboard will make their company a float.

Also, they released too many device line up and the fact that these releases has only small upgrade in terms of specs from its predecessors. Yes a lot of people who tried the all-touch devices and tried BlackBerry keyboard loved it, but in these tech times, smartphone is not just for communication, not just for typing anymore, it also for entertainment, something that can launch cool applications.

I believe that the BlackBerry OS 10 is really powerful OS, it can do real multitasking without making a sacrifice in its battery, it can run Android applications and multitask both android and native BlackBerry applications as well. I also saw a youtube video that the PlayBook is running a native Apple Applications.

But with the current condition of RIM, do they have enough resources to release the BlackBerry 10? Can the BlackBerry 10 save RIM if it’s been released at the most March 31, 2013? Can we see a fully finished and powerful BlackBerry 10 on March or will it be another half-baked RIM device like the PlayBook? But what really scares me is, will they announce on Q1 of 2013 that the launch of BlackBerry 10 will be push back again.

Right now I still have faith in RIM that they can pull everything off and start gaining the market again slowly, I’ll still use my BlackBerry devices until the last breath of RIM.
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dell says:

12 years ago

its because RIM produces 2mp-5mp phones with 12mp prices…no wonder only a few will buy them..
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Expensive says:

12 years ago

Their handsets are expensive but the hardware, camera etc. is really below the standard that the consumers want. Part by part, iPhone, Samsung, Nokia and others gives you best value for your money. Yes, iPhone, Galaxy are expensive but you get the value for your money because the hardware are the best out there compared to bb. Just imagine, poor screen + 3 MP camera sold at around 12 to 16K. I know, it’s crazy.

R2 says:

12 years ago

I always look to the bright side, if it wasn’t happened to RIM, I was not able to buy a pretty hardware for a very low price like my Playbook; bright side for consumers at least. :D
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Catnip says:

12 years ago

This is sad news for me, a BB user. I find BBs solid phones in general. Substantial built. Excellent keyboards and amazing call quality. I don’t look for all those apps people find so fascinating in android and iPhones. I hate touchscreen phones. And when I’m out, I’m out and about so I don’t bother with free wifis from malls or nesting in a coffee shop tinkering with my phone. I tinker with programs and applications at work and at home but never when I’m out. So I’ll hold on to my BB for now. If they close shop, I’ll have to find a new phone but I hope that comes later than sooner or maybe never.
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andrewkevinT says:

12 years ago

i know how you feel :(

alvin says:

12 years ago

very sad! :-(

BB RIM should not give up! this is a battle and it is not yet finished!
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John says:

12 years ago

Lol poor brokeberry.
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ronald says:

12 years ago

blackberry might be bought by facebook. facebook wants its own smartphone in the market.
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Nunuk says:

12 years ago

Well, they should do it right away.

Carl Bytes says:

12 years ago

The reason is their loyal customers are leaving them because of delayed promises (PlayBook update and now BB10).

They will suffer again with the release of iPhone 5 and Windows Phone 8 later this year.
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kendra says:

12 years ago

just wondering, can they shift to a different os and that’s android for this case? i guess bbos is out of limelight so they’ll either overhaul their own os or carry the android platform imo.
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They already have says:

12 years ago

They already have a new OS. QNX, the one used in their playbook.
Zo says:

12 years ago

Hi kendra,

I read from an article (forgot where, i use Appy Geek app for android for my daily tech news) that RIM will not enter into discussions regarding Android in their devices nor will they talk to Microsoft. :|

garz says:

12 years ago

Thanks to the Asian market, RIM’s still afloat. But if they keep producing keyboard-clad phones, reaching the shore would be impossible.
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garz says:

12 years ago

Because BlackBerry still insisted on physical keyboards when touchscreens are selling like hotcakes.
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Neil says:

12 years ago

What made their stocks hit that low is the fact that they will not release the BlackBerry 10 until 2013. Who thinks RIM can compete with the next generation iPhone which should be out by October and a barrage of Android devices running Jelly Bean?

Another thing is that rumor has it RIM turned down Microsoft’s offer to partner with them to bring BlackBerry devices running Windows Phone 8.

Goodluck RIM. :)
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