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He's forgetting that a lot of times, it isn't the end user purchasing the Blackberry. RIM owns corporate sales, and that isn't slackening. Their overall market

He's forgetting that a lot of times, it isn't the end user purchasing the Blackberry. RIM owns corporate sales, and that isn't slackening. Their overall market share in smart phones is declining, but that's just an effect of so many consumers beginning to buy them. At the end of the day it's all about profit, not market share, and a smaller percentage of a much larger pie is often a good thing. The iPhone (and most Android units, which are keyboardless) don't even attempt to cater to RIM's core market: hardcore emailers. RIM will continue to own that for the foreseeable future. They're even getting some consumer traction since text messaging is so ubiquitous. Corporate IT departments, that already have BES running, are going to keep buying Blackberries. And the Blackberries are going to keep them running BES. There are certainly alternatives (Android/Active Sync) but the cost involved in switching is significant and the benefits are merely nonexistent. So all RIM would do in switching to Android is end their vendor lock-in. Vendors don't often give that up. While the Blackberry OS is rough around the edges, so is Android. And the Berry still does email better than anyone.

nanairo 16y ago
Exactly. The Blackberries need to modernise their system, sure. But as long as they keep being the best in what they are, they've got a pretty nice niche, and it's all for themselves.
ergo98 16y ago
There seems to be a lot of debate based on emotion with remarkably little fact. Many corporations are moving to a bring-your-own smartphone policy. My organization did exactly that recently, and no new Blackberry has been purchased in some time: We have the BES server and the plans, but users don't want to carry some deadweight blackberry and the Android or iPhone smartphone that they also carry. With Exchange Web Services, the whole BES thing seems like such an anachronism anyways.
- mattmaroon 16y ago
  Decrying an argument for lacking facts and then replying with an anecdote is hypocritical.
  - rbanffy 16y ago
    He is right many companies are switching to a bring-your-own-smartphone policies. We haven't issued a Blackberry in quite some time and stuff like IMAP and OWA make it easy to make just about any cleverphone functional. The issue is dominance. Once a new player enters the segment, it's a question of time until it fragments. Blackberry enjoyed a dominant position for a long time but being the #1 corporate-issue phone is not important in a world where more and more people bring their own phones into their jobs.
    - deleted 16y ago
      [deleted]
  - ergo98 16y ago
    Have you noticed the SELL rating just applied to RIM? The endless analysts pointing out that RIMs lockhold has largely disappeared? I don't need to point out specific examples because they're pervasive.
thesethings 16y ago
I'm seeing something different in terms of corporate sales. You're right, the BES is a "global"/centralized project and cost, usually negotiated with an org-wide discount for devices. But every Blackberry device for each individual employee is usually an as-it-comes decision, spread out over departments. And at that level, the Blackberry is very much in danger. Why? * Within months of Apple announcing iphone Exchange compatibility years ago, it was enabled at every corporation that I know of. (It only takes one VIP with an iphone to make IT jump to make it happen. It's not just an iphone thing, it happens all the time with all sorts of edge/marginal technologies.) * As for non-VIPs: even Blackberry companies have a cell phone purchase program for non Blackberry devices. This usually involves a preferred carrier and device set (that has a company-wide discount). But it also includes an "exception" program where companies will reimburse part of the cost of whatever device an employee chooses. These programs were not invented for smartphones, but just simple phones. But they sure are being used for smartphones at this point. * Newest: What I'm seeing on the ground is this: Due to tighter budget scrutiny, fewer and fewer corp-bought devices (of any brand) in general, and employees not even bothering with any employer stuff at the purchase level. And then seeking partial reimbursement for their bill. It's less and less common for the employee-chosen device to be a Blackberry. This is part of a larger movement of the consumerization of business technology. And employee phones is a part of the larger BYOPC movement. A primer link is here: http://darwinmag.com/article/597485/BYOPC_Could_Make_Sense_for_Your_IT_Shop http://darwinmag.com/article/597485/BYOPC_Could_Make_Sense_f...

nanairo 16y ago

Exactly. The Blackberries need to modernise their system, sure. But as long as they keep being the best in what they are, they've got a pretty nice niche, and it's all for themselves.

ergo98 16y ago

There seems to be a lot of debate based on emotion with remarkably little fact. Many corporations are moving to a bring-your-own smartphone policy. My organization did exactly that recently, and no new Blackberry has been purchased in some time: We have the BES server and the plans, but users don't want to carry some deadweight blackberry and the Android or iPhone smartphone that they also carry. With Exchange Web Services, the whole BES thing seems like such an anachronism anyways.

mattmaroon 16y ago
Decrying an argument for lacking facts and then replying with an anecdote is hypocritical.
- rbanffy 16y ago
  He is right many companies are switching to a bring-your-own-smartphone policies. We haven't issued a Blackberry in quite some time and stuff like IMAP and OWA make it easy to make just about any cleverphone functional. The issue is dominance. Once a new player enters the segment, it's a question of time until it fragments. Blackberry enjoyed a dominant position for a long time but being the #1 corporate-issue phone is not important in a world where more and more people bring their own phones into their jobs.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
- ergo98 16y ago
  Have you noticed the SELL rating just applied to RIM? The endless analysts pointing out that RIMs lockhold has largely disappeared? I don't need to point out specific examples because they're pervasive.

thesethings 16y ago

I'm seeing something different in terms of corporate sales. You're right, the BES is a "global"/centralized project and cost, usually negotiated with an org-wide discount for devices. But every Blackberry device for each individual employee is usually an as-it-comes decision, spread out over departments. And at that level, the Blackberry is very much in danger. Why? * Within months of Apple announcing iphone Exchange compatibility years ago, it was enabled at every corporation that I know of. (It only takes one VIP with an iphone to make IT jump to make it happen. It's not just an iphone thing, it happens all the time with all sorts of edge/marginal technologies.) * As for non-VIPs: even Blackberry companies have a cell phone purchase program for non Blackberry devices. This usually involves a preferred carrier and device set (that has a company-wide discount). But it also includes an "exception" program where companies will reimburse part of the cost of whatever device an employee chooses. These programs were not invented for smartphones, but just simple phones. But they sure are being used for smartphones at this point. * Newest: What I'm seeing on the ground is this: Due to tighter budget scrutiny, fewer and fewer corp-bought devices (of any brand) in general, and employees not even bothering with any employer stuff at the purchase level. And then seeking partial reimbursement for their bill. It's less and less common for the employee-chosen device to be a Blackberry. This is part of a larger movement of the consumerization of business technology. And employee phones is a part of the larger BYOPC movement. A primer link is here: http://darwinmag.com/article/597485/BYOPC_Could_Make_Sense_for_Your_IT_Shop http://darwinmag.com/article/597485/BYOPC_Could_Make_Sense_f...