Blackberry maker Research in Motion (NASD: RIMM) was widely speculated to be on the brink of bankruptcy just months ago. Market observers were writing their obituary, ascribing the once great firm to failure, after losing market share to Apple and Android, putting cash flows of its once cash cow Blackberry product into doubt. Now, it appears the tales of their demise have been greatly exaggerated.
A new generation of more versatile BlackBerry smartphones is finally about to hit the market after excruciating delays allowed mobile devices made by Apple, Samsung and others to build commanding leads in a market that is redefining society. Research in Motion formally unveiled its long-awaited line-up of revamped smartphones and software Wednesday at simultaneous events held in New York, Toronto, London, Paris, Dubai, Johannesburg, Jakarta and Delhi.
In a move underscoring the stakes riding on its make-or-break product line-up, the Canadian company used the occasion to announce it is changing its name to BlackBerry — a pioneering brand that has lost its cachet since Apple’s 2007 release of the iPhone reset expectations for what a smartphone should do. The first devices in the new crop of BlackBerrys will be called the Q10, which will feature a physical keyboard like previous versions of the phone, and the Z10 will have only touch-screen keyboard, like Apple Inc.’s trend-setting iPhone and other handsets running on Google Inc.’s Android software, including Samsung’s popular Galaxy. They will run on a redesigned operating system called BlackBerry 10, which the company began working on after buying QNX Software Systems in 2010.
Previews of the BlackBerry 10 software have gotten favorable reviews on blogs. Financial analysts are starting to see some room for a comeback. RIM redesigned the system to embrace the multimedia, apps and touch-screen experience prevalent today. The Q10 is meant to cater to people who still prefer a typing on a physical keyboard instead of a display screen. Besides promising a better typing experience, the new BlackBerrys are supposed to run faster, pull up multiple applications simultaneously and enable users to separate their professional and personal lives with a feature called “Balance.”
Blackberry has suffered an enormous loss in market share as they were slow to adapt to the changing consumer tastes. The corporate business remains lucrative for the firm, and is firmly entrenched in most executive’s arsenal. Breaking into the consumer market will be critical for the firm’s survival, and they finally seem to have products the consumers will embrace.
