February 13 2011, 8:09 AM
So this week has been a big one in the mobile world, a week where interest and emotions ran high. First HP introduced us to the new world of WebOS devices, to largely mixed results. Some loved them, some hated them, and some simply didn't care. Then HP announced that legacy devices would not be updated to the latest version of WebOS as had been promised. That of course, didn't go over well.
Then Nokia announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft. Not only to use Windows Phone 7 in their devices, but to also collaborate with the software giant, and include their own initiatives and improvements. To some, this was seen as a great idea, as Nokia had really struggled with it's old OS Symbian, and had made no progress with their in development OS MeeGo. Others bemoaned this decision as Nokia abandoning their loyal customer base and pool of developers. Others said that WP7 simply wasn't good enough, and Nokia should have gone with Android.
So suffice it say, both companies got some praise and received some flack for their announcements this week. The old adage says that you can't please all of the people all of the time, so it remains to be seen whether these changes are going to have a net positive effect for the market shares of these companies. But, at the very least, you can say that both HP/Palm and Nokia have made moves to remain relevant. Both are taking a gamble to turn their sagging market shares around and move forward.
So how does Blackberry fit in? They are essentially in the same boat. They are seeing a market decline, especially outside of the enterprise sector. People aren't associating Blackberry devices with "cool" or "hip" anymore, they are simply seen as utilitarian. Now, there strictly speaking isn't anything wrong with that, but if there's one thing that Steve Jobs has taught us, it's that perception and presentation are everything. You have to make people want a product, bit simply present it as a good product. RIM has positioned their devices in such a way that it's hard to feel that passion for them anymore. Oh sure, there are still plenty of people addicted to their Blackberry devices. But more and more people seem to be swayed away. It's hard to devote yourself to a company that has struggled in the realm of innovation.
What the Nokia/Microsoft deal has shown the world is that having a top quality physical build just isn't enough anymore. People want top of the line internals and a current OS to go with it. This is exactly the same problem RIM is facing. Blackberry OS is old. They have updated it to OS 6, but it is still the same OS that admittedly fixed many issues, but is still suffering from depreciation. It's an OS that is hard to get excited about. It has been marginalized by the tech community as it lacks the simplicity of iOS, the customizability of Android, or the service integration of WP7. BB OS 6 despite being new, feels old. It's an OS that struggles to support devices with and without a touchscreen while maintaining legacy support for older versions. In all fairness, RIM has done a good job keeping the OS relevant this long, nut like Nokia, they must realize that it can't go on much longer.
The other side of the issue comes from the internals on their phones. The current top of the line devices are the Torch and the Bold 9780. The torch features a touchscreen in a slider format, while the 9780 lacks the touchscreen and uses the more traditional optical trackpad. These are their top of the line devices, and are priced as premium smartphones. The problem is that both devices have a 624MHz processor in a world where 1GHz is the norm, lack any sort of GPU, and have small screens with low resolutions. To put it simply, their internal components simply aren't competitive. RIM is leveraging everything on their superb enterprise ability. The problem is that other operating systems are catching up. Windows Phone 7 has already met or surpassed Blackberry OS in several key enterprise sectors such as Exchange support. And on the other hand, Android incorporates Google Apps to a much stronger degree, which can be important as many companies switch to cloud services. So RIM is finding their handsets being backed into a corner. They still have enterprise dominance, but it is slowly being chipped away. They are struggling to position their devices at a consumer level simply because they do not compare to the tech specs of the competition.
RIM has one ace up their sleeve at the moment. The PlayBook. Their upcoming tablet offering which is still targeted to enterprise users, but is exciting enough to attract those at the consumer level as well. One of the more interesting aspects of the device is that RIM is not using BB OS for its operating system. Instead they have brought in QNX. While little is known about it in the public sector, everything seen thus far has been very impressive. It has a modern look, seems to function smoothly, and is reputed to be built on a very stable base. Mostly though, it is the fact that change was implemented by a company that has been stubborn to do so. RIM has made mention that they intend to use QNX as a base for their handsets as well in the future.
The problem is that that future seems to be awfully far away. RIM has laid out its roadmap for 2011, and QNX handsets are not on it. They are all slated to run BB OS 6. The second problem is that those handsets all have greatly updated internals. Very competitive ones. Why is that a problem? Because they are competitive when compared to devices of today. But these are handsets coming out in 6-9 months. At the rate smartphones are evolving, there is no way that those specs will compare to what other companies will be releasing in that timeframe. So to the end of 2011, RIM is looking to be behind the curve in the smartphone world.
RIM is now in a place that many companies have been in recent years. Palm was in that position with their PalmOS devices like the Centro and the Treo. Demand was seriously waning in light of the new market created by Apple. They could no longer compete and had to rebuild, coming back with WebOS. Microsoft was in the same position with Windows Mobile, and came back with the Windows Phone series. Nokia was feeling the same pain as Symbian kept aging poorly, and is now shaking things up. RIM is losing the battle of public perception, and risks being labelled as irrelevant at the consumer level. They need to turn that around. The PlayBook looks to be a good start, but they need to extend that to their smartphones as well. They have a dominant enterprise position, but cannot depend on that market to keep them afloat. They have great build designs, but need to use internals that re more competitive. And most of all, they need to switch away from BB OS sooner rather than later. They keep making it look nicer, but ultimately it's just lipstick on a pig.
They need to re-invent themselves, and learn that presentation and perception are at least as important as substance these days. It's not enough to just make great phones anymore. They have to make great phones and make us want them.
Is RIM up to the task?
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