During yesterday’s third quarter fiscal 2011 earnings call, Research in Motion co-CEO Jim Balsillie had this to say when Rod Hall of JP Morgan essentially asked how RIM is going to stay competitive with Apple and Google getting people to believe that RIM isn’t just playing catch-up…
I think the PlayBook redefines what a tablet should do. I think we’ve articulated some elements of it, and I think this idea of a proprietary SDK and unnecessary apps — though there’s a huge role for apps — I think is going to shift in the market, and I think it’s going to shift very, very quickly. And I think there’s going to be a strong appetite for web fidelity and tool familiarity. And I think there’s going to be a rapid desire for high performance. And I think we’re way ahead on that. And I think CIO friendliness, we’re way ahead on that.
Now, how do you align or go over the top on carriers and content providers? Well, we have different strategies, and that’s fine, and there may be room for more than one model, who knows. And, you know, it’s a very dynamic market. Plus, there’s enormous growth and shifts happening around the world, you know.
How many fronts people want to take on contention, that’s a question you can ask. Do you want to go over the top of banks, do you want to go over the top on content, do you want to go over the top on carriers, do you want to go over the top on video content providers? I mean, who knows, you know? What part of it’s good strategy and what part of it’s a bridge too far? I mean, who knows?
The truth of it is, you really want a lot of it on your smartphone, and you really want a lot of it, we believe, on a tablet. And you fit with your content providers — who are really changing their strategies for mobility, because they want a sustained model — carriers are aggressively trying to change their models, banks are getting involved.
So, I think the PlayBook clearly sets the bar WAY higher on performance, and you’re going to see more. I think the enterprise stuff, we’re seriously extending. I think the BlackBerry is still number one in social collaboration. And I think with the PlayBook and that environment we’re going to set the new standard on performance and tools, very powerful tools. And we’re growing very very fast. So, that’s a lot.
Connected home? I think there’s ways to seamlessly extend what’s going on in the home, and you’re going to see a lot of how we’re doing that, rather than going over the top. But, you know, it may be a prerogative.
But you’re going into some pretty serious plays when you go in the connected home too hard. You have to pay attention to the fact: What’s the role of the satellite company or the cable company in that? The content vendors get fed paying through them. And also, how do you insert ads very well with these content vendors?
There’s a lot of moving parts, but I think we’re just well ahead on the PlayBook, well ahead internationally, and extending very very well. And so, people can have their views on sentiment, but when is it a good entry strategy, and when is it a bridge too far? Who knows? We have turbulent ecosystem right now. How do you work with banks, how do you work with carriers, how do you work with content, how do you work with enterprise ecosystem?
And I think these business models are highly shifting, and if people think there’s just a straight-ahead shot for everybody, and it’s all just predictably extended the way it’s going now, I think that’s a highly questionable assumption. These business models are highly in flux.
One thing I’ve always liked about Jim Balsillie is that if you ask him a question he usually will tell you what he is thinking. He may wrap lot of other stuff on his mind around his answers that actually end being more interesting than his actual answers, but, answer your questions he will…
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Playbook, Playbook, Playbook. What about Storm3, more memory and more powerful processors? My read on this is that RIM has all their eggs in one basket. They pray that this will knock off the other tablets and that people will flock to follow on devices. I don’t see it.
Jim, truncated e mail on a device that is allegedly the king of mobile e mail? Please!
Yeah, a Storm 3 with OS 5. Hahahahaha. OS 6 isn’t ready yet for CDMA.
I’ve got my own rant:
It’s been 4 years since the iPhone came out and showed everyone what the experience on an smartphone could be like. Google then created Android, Palm WebOS, and Microsoft Windows Phone 7. RIM, there is no reason that you, the number one smartphone manufacturer until just recently, should be the company still trying to play catch up to, not what the iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, and even WebOS devices are today, but what the original iPhone was when it first started treating you like a red headed step child back when it first came out in 2007.
Seriously RIM, you haven’t caught up to the original freaking iPhone…
BlackBerry 6 on the Torch is great compared to other BlackBerry devices, but, and lets just be real… it sucks compared to IOS and Android. I just bought a Droid Pro a about a week ago and my BlackBerry Bold does nothing better less support BlackBerry Push email which is awesome, and BlackBerry Messenger which is awesome squared. Both of these things can be done via software as you did with BlackBerry Connect back in the day…
Maybe what is really needed at RIM is new leadership… You know, someone less concerned with trying to buy a hockey team or a brilliant mind that isn’t still trying to convince everyone that smartphones with big brilliant screens, high powered modern operating systems, and ridiculously fast processors aren’t feasible with today’s technology.
As of today, I’ve moved on from the BlackBerry. I’ve ported my T-Moible number over to Verizon and I’ve sent my last BBM message telling all my peeps to hit me with a text message or an email from now on…
Why has RIM not caught up? One word, arrogance. RIM thought their product was superior to anything else on the market. Once you have that mindset, it’s very hard to see anything other then your own hype. Technology is full of others that suffered the same affliction.
I don’t agree with your comment.
OS6 has caught up to the original iPhone if not surpassed it. For example my original iPod touch could not load my University’s student centre website. But my Blackberry Torch handles it quite well. In fact it handles the website slightly better than my dad’s iPhone 3GS.
The real issue is that the Blackberry hasn’t caught up to the current generation of iPhone and Android products. Let me be more specific it hasn’t caught up to the current top of the line iPhone and Andriod products. The Torch fits just above the mid-range Android phone or just slightly above the iPhone 3GS.
Blackberry in my opinion needs to update the specs on the phones. I mean the Torch is using the same processor as the Bold 9000. We should have a 1GHz processor by now. A Torch like touch screen device should have been released when they were releasing the 9700 and one with less memory when they released the 9000.
But that being said Blackberry is far from dead. Its facing pressure on the high end market but it has a good install base on the mid and low end market.
I don’t know what it is like in the States but in Canada the Blackberry is dominating the student market. The iPhone and Android are unheard of in the student market. BBM is dominating the student market. One of my friends described it as MSN in your pockket. To a degree that is what the Blackberry has become a social phone.
The phone companies are sweetening the deal by offering special data plans which restrict you to only using Twitter, Facebook and BBM. These plans are only available to Blackberries because of their low data usage. Remember these aren’t people with deep pockets so its unlikely they are going to be attracted to Apps if the data plans cost significantly more.
From what I hear the same story holds true in the UK, Europe, and the third world.
It would be smart though of Blackberry to catch up to the other devices.
If I remember correctly 92 percent of RIM’s profits are coming from the non-US market. This usually translates to low to mid range devices. If RIM is satisfied to go the Nokia route so be it.
OS6 handles Exchange and full imap email support out of the box without BES? Didn’t think so. Try again.
That was just about one of the most well-stated comments I’ve read to date on the topic. Great job.
You forget that RIM plays in a slightly different market than does Apple. BBerry’s were and will always remains business communication devices first and entertainment pieces second. You can see this in pretty much anything BBerry related. Even the Apps tend to be more productivity and organization focused (no flying ducks ala IPhone).
Moreover, RIM’s business model has a few competition related key strengths that make it a very valuable partner for telco’s.
Ask yourself how fast a processor do you need to be able to view emails or send a msg. (hint: not a whole lot)
I don’t think RIM is doing what they should be doing.