10 ms·

RIM rumored to lay off 2,000 more workers soon

35 points by xtiy 14y ago

DigitalSea 14y ago
It was bound to happen sooner or later. RIM have really been struggling to adapt to the changing corporate/business sector. Phones like the iPhone have been biting slowly but surely into the corporate/business sector. I know in many areas like government Blackberry's are still the number #1 choice but for how long? They've lost direction, it'll be interesting to see if they're still around in a few years time or someone else scoops them up and tries to turn the company around.
- HorizonXP 14y ago
  I think it's a bit early to write them off. Let's see what happens in 6 months time after the launch of BlackBerry 10. Then you may be proven right, but I don't think that's today.
mindblink 14y ago
It's always sad to hear such a formerly great company take such a hit. Wonder at what point is RIM an attractive take-over target for the likes of software giants in search of controlling their mobile destiny, like Facebook.
- j2labs 14y ago
  Or private equity.
  - HorizonXP 14y ago
    To be honest, I don't think a firm is interested in buying RIM until after BB10 launches. And they're hoping it's a failure so they can buy RIM for cheap and liquidate the assets. That's what I would do.
HorizonXP 14y ago
Disclaimer: I used to work for RIM as a co-op student 8 years ago. I am not a current employee, but I have been an avid BlackBerry user and developer. IMHO, these layoffs are long overdue. RIM has been growing for years under the BlackBerry OS and failed to adapt to a changing marketplace. The iPhone really blew them out of the water, and the BlackBerry Storm was a terrible attempt to try to answer that threat. The BlackBerry Java OS is old, dated, and does not have the infrastructure needed to compete in the marketplace of 5 years ago, let alone today. That's all changing with the adoption of the QNX operating system on the BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry 10. People may lament the mismanagement of the launch of the PlayBook, and I would mostly tend to agree. However, RIM has delivered a solid base from which to build upon, and they're doing all of the right things. To this day, we're still figuring out all of the nuances of the OS and what can be done with it. Quite simply, QNX is fast, secure, and well-engineered. IMHO, it is leaps and bounds ahead of what iOS or even Android are capable of. These changes are also being reflected at RIM itself. Their acquisition of QNX several years back was a masterful move. And even though RIM bought QNX, the culture seems to becoming more QNX-like, which is a great thing. (It's almost like a reverse-takeover.) They're adopting many of the lean startup methods in driving their products forward. One can point to the delivery of Dev Alpha prototypes to developers back in early May. Put out a minimum viable product to your early adopters to gather feedback and figure out what to build next. As developers, we have the opportunity to have a platform built to our needs, rather than the other way around. It smacks of lean startup methodologies. My rambling does have a point: these layoffs are likely in the old and slow departments of RIM's past, related to the older BBOS. BBOS is going into maintenance mode, as it seems like they are no longer developing new features for it and are reserving it for their budget devices. While layoffs always suck because people are losing their livelihood, I think it's a great move on RIM's part to become leaner and more agile. They have the capability to deliver something truly wonderful with BlackBerry 10. The building blocks are all there. I'm personally hopeful they will execute it well, because that's ultimately what will determine their fate, whether they end up like Palm or like Apple. Only time will tell.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- oz 14y ago
rpeden 14y ago
Could actually be as many as 6,000: http://business.financialpost.com/2012/05/27/rim-layoffs-could-hit-thousands/ http://business.financialpost.com/2012/05/27/rim-layoffs-cou...
- HorizonXP 14y ago
  That number seems high to me, but not impossible. This news isn't exactly new though, it's just hitting the presses now. Many of my friends outside of RIM have been hearing this for quite some time.
mukaiji 14y ago
a sad day for canadian innovation :(
- HorizonXP 14y ago
  I actually think the opposite, it's a great day. Get rid of some of the cruft and excess baggage of your previous laurels, so you can focus on the next innovation.
heathkit 14y ago
Maybe I'm biased, but to me the story of RIM is another example of the triumph of open source over closed-source solutions. iOS is based on BSD, Android on linux (and heavily leverages the OpenBinder IPC mechanism. I've looked closely at the old blackberry OS and the new QNX based one, and it's amazing how far behind they are. Seeing the new QNX OS and how they're using it was a real eye opener. They have nothing that even comes close to the features of ICS on their roadmap, and they just don't have the resources or expertise to ever catch up. I agree, they do make good hardware. But the software side of their house is in the stone age, and the recent acquisitions haven't really helped at all.
- jan_g 14y ago
  Very funny that your view is exactly the opposite of HorizonXP's view in his posts, where he asserts that QNX is much more advanced that either iOS or Android.
  - HorizonXP 14y ago
    Yeah, +1 on this. I wish I could provide better evidence to support my claims about QNX being better, but I really would butcher it. Maybe tomorrow, when I'm less sleep-deprived, I can take a stab at it. Right now, I'm responding with items that I know I can speak about, since they're off the top of my head. I would actually argue that QNX and RIM's current efforts are more open than before. Prior to RIM's acquisition of QNX, it was open-source, called OpenQNX. They closed it shortly after acquiring it (which doesn't help support my claims :-P), but they've really been pushing open-source efforts. Cascades is built on Qt, and they've been committing heavily to the gitorious repo. Moreover, they've contracted KDAB to continue those efforts. If you look at this page https://developer.blackberry.com/native/documentation/oss.html https://developer.blackberry.com/native/documentation/oss.ht..., you'll see a list of all the open-source components that they've ported to the platform. Everything is hosted on github at http://blackberry.github.com/ http://blackberry.github.com/. Look, I know I'm sounding like a BlackBerry fanboy, and it's because I am. I drank the Kool-Aid, and I like it. I want them to succeed. They may not be the company we deserve, but the company we need. We need a 3rd player to usurp Apple's draconian App Store policies, and provide some semblance of quality over Google Play Store. Again, I think RIM is making the right moves. If you're a developer, you owe it to yourself to check out the resources that they're offering. Follow them on twitter, @BlackBerryDev. Heck, check out one of the BlackBerry Jam World Tours that might be in a town near you (http://www.blackberryjamworldtour.com/ http://www.blackberryjamworldtour.com/). Research them yourself and draw your own conclusions. You may still disagree with me. That's ok. At least, you'll be well-informed and STILL disagreeeing with me. :-)
sparknlaunch12 14y ago
HP announced 27k last week. Ericsson proposing 1.7k. Unsurprising those no longer at the top have to reduce their workforce. RIM has dropped the ball recently (two significant public blunders) and their tablet offering is terrible. Firms are considering using iPhone's instead of the popular Blackberry. Times are changing.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]

35 points by xtiy 14y ago

It was bound to happen sooner or later. RIM have really been struggling to adapt to the changing corporate/business sector. Phones like the iPhone have been biting slowly but surely into the corporate/business sector. I know in many areas like government Blackberry's are still the number #1 choice but for how long? They've lost direction, it'll be interesting to see if they're still around in a few years time or someone else scoops them up and tries to turn the company around.

HorizonXP 14y ago
I think it's a bit early to write them off. Let's see what happens in 6 months time after the launch of BlackBerry 10. Then you may be proven right, but I don't think that's today.

mindblink 14y ago

It's always sad to hear such a formerly great company take such a hit. Wonder at what point is RIM an attractive take-over target for the likes of software giants in search of controlling their mobile destiny, like Facebook.

j2labs 14y ago
Or private equity.
- HorizonXP 14y ago
  To be honest, I don't think a firm is interested in buying RIM until after BB10 launches. And they're hoping it's a failure so they can buy RIM for cheap and liquidate the assets. That's what I would do.

HorizonXP 14y ago

Disclaimer: I used to work for RIM as a co-op student 8 years ago. I am not a current employee, but I have been an avid BlackBerry user and developer. IMHO, these layoffs are long overdue. RIM has been growing for years under the BlackBerry OS and failed to adapt to a changing marketplace. The iPhone really blew them out of the water, and the BlackBerry Storm was a terrible attempt to try to answer that threat. The BlackBerry Java OS is old, dated, and does not have the infrastructure needed to compete in the marketplace of 5 years ago, let alone today. That's all changing with the adoption of the QNX operating system on the BlackBerry PlayBook and BlackBerry 10. People may lament the mismanagement of the launch of the PlayBook, and I would mostly tend to agree. However, RIM has delivered a solid base from which to build upon, and they're doing all of the right things. To this day, we're still figuring out all of the nuances of the OS and what can be done with it. Quite simply, QNX is fast, secure, and well-engineered. IMHO, it is leaps and bounds ahead of what iOS or even Android are capable of. These changes are also being reflected at RIM itself. Their acquisition of QNX several years back was a masterful move. And even though RIM bought QNX, the culture seems to becoming more QNX-like, which is a great thing. (It's almost like a reverse-takeover.) They're adopting many of the lean startup methods in driving their products forward. One can point to the delivery of Dev Alpha prototypes to developers back in early May. Put out a minimum viable product to your early adopters to gather feedback and figure out what to build next. As developers, we have the opportunity to have a platform built to our needs, rather than the other way around. It smacks of lean startup methodologies. My rambling does have a point: these layoffs are likely in the old and slow departments of RIM's past, related to the older BBOS. BBOS is going into maintenance mode, as it seems like they are no longer developing new features for it and are reserving it for their budget devices. While layoffs always suck because people are losing their livelihood, I think it's a great move on RIM's part to become leaner and more agile. They have the capability to deliver something truly wonderful with BlackBerry 10. The building blocks are all there. I'm personally hopeful they will execute it well, because that's ultimately what will determine their fate, whether they end up like Palm or like Apple. Only time will tell.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
oz 14y ago

rpeden 14y ago

Could actually be as many as 6,000: http://business.financialpost.com/2012/05/27/rim-layoffs-could-hit-thousands/ http://business.financialpost.com/2012/05/27/rim-layoffs-cou...

HorizonXP 14y ago
That number seems high to me, but not impossible. This news isn't exactly new though, it's just hitting the presses now. Many of my friends outside of RIM have been hearing this for quite some time.

mukaiji 14y ago

a sad day for canadian innovation :(

HorizonXP 14y ago
I actually think the opposite, it's a great day. Get rid of some of the cruft and excess baggage of your previous laurels, so you can focus on the next innovation.

heathkit 14y ago

Maybe I'm biased, but to me the story of RIM is another example of the triumph of open source over closed-source solutions. iOS is based on BSD, Android on linux (and heavily leverages the OpenBinder IPC mechanism. I've looked closely at the old blackberry OS and the new QNX based one, and it's amazing how far behind they are. Seeing the new QNX OS and how they're using it was a real eye opener. They have nothing that even comes close to the features of ICS on their roadmap, and they just don't have the resources or expertise to ever catch up. I agree, they do make good hardware. But the software side of their house is in the stone age, and the recent acquisitions haven't really helped at all.

jan_g 14y ago
Very funny that your view is exactly the opposite of HorizonXP's view in his posts, where he asserts that QNX is much more advanced that either iOS or Android.
- HorizonXP 14y ago
  Yeah, +1 on this. I wish I could provide better evidence to support my claims about QNX being better, but I really would butcher it. Maybe tomorrow, when I'm less sleep-deprived, I can take a stab at it. Right now, I'm responding with items that I know I can speak about, since they're off the top of my head. I would actually argue that QNX and RIM's current efforts are more open than before. Prior to RIM's acquisition of QNX, it was open-source, called OpenQNX. They closed it shortly after acquiring it (which doesn't help support my claims :-P), but they've really been pushing open-source efforts. Cascades is built on Qt, and they've been committing heavily to the gitorious repo. Moreover, they've contracted KDAB to continue those efforts. If you look at this page https://developer.blackberry.com/native/documentation/oss.html https://developer.blackberry.com/native/documentation/oss.ht..., you'll see a list of all the open-source components that they've ported to the platform. Everything is hosted on github at http://blackberry.github.com/ http://blackberry.github.com/. Look, I know I'm sounding like a BlackBerry fanboy, and it's because I am. I drank the Kool-Aid, and I like it. I want them to succeed. They may not be the company we deserve, but the company we need. We need a 3rd player to usurp Apple's draconian App Store policies, and provide some semblance of quality over Google Play Store. Again, I think RIM is making the right moves. If you're a developer, you owe it to yourself to check out the resources that they're offering. Follow them on twitter, @BlackBerryDev. Heck, check out one of the BlackBerry Jam World Tours that might be in a town near you (http://www.blackberryjamworldtour.com/ http://www.blackberryjamworldtour.com/). Research them yourself and draw your own conclusions. You may still disagree with me. That's ok. At least, you'll be well-informed and STILL disagreeeing with me. :-)

sparknlaunch12 14y ago

HP announced 27k last week. Ericsson proposing 1.7k. Unsurprising those no longer at the top have to reduce their workforce. RIM has dropped the ball recently (two significant public blunders) and their tablet offering is terrible. Firms are considering using iPhone's instead of the popular Blackberry. Times are changing.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]