Bye bye Blackberry

[Bluce Ree]

So, RIM is considering splitting the business into two separate, publicly listed entities, its messaging business and the handset manufacturing business. RIM is considering possibly selling off its handset division to the likes of Amazon or Facebook.

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/rim-considers-splitting-business-two-paper-142653096--sector.html

I can see Facebook salivating at having its own handset division, where they can track everything you ever do forever anytime and anywhere.

The other possibility is keeping the company intact and bringing in Microsoft as a stake holder.


There are better, less painful ways for a large corporation to commit suicide.

 

[Joelist]

Interesting.

It should be noted that it is a rumor (Reuters has a bad tendency to report rumors like they are facts). Even still the reactions are interesting. Here is CrackBerry, which is the "place of record" for BlackBerry on the web:

http://forums.crackberry.com/showthread.php?t= 731616

Of those options, being bought by MS is actually the best chance. Blackberry OS basically is alive by virtue of its wide adoption in the business world. And a key aspect of Windows Phone 8 is business class security and functionality, which will remove the only reason anyone still buys BB.

 

[Bluce Ree]

Interesting.

It should be noted that it is a rumor (Reuters has a bad tendency to report rumors like they are facts). Even still the reactions are interesting. Here is CrackBerry, which is the "place of record" for BlackBerry on the web:

http://forums.crackberry.com/showthread.php?t= 731616

Of those options, being bought by MS is actually the best chance. Blackberry OS basically is alive by virtue of its wide adoption in the business world. And a key aspect of Windows Phone 8 is business class security and functionality, which will remove the only reason anyone still buys BB.

BBM is still a very strong reason to buy BB.

 

[Overmind One]

So, RIM is considering splitting the business into two separate, publicly listed entities, its messaging business and the handset manufacturing business. RIM is considering possibly selling off its handset division to the likes of Amazon or Facebook.

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/rim-considers-splitting-business-two-paper-142653096--sector.html

I can see Facebook salivating at having its own handset division, where they can track everything you ever do forever anytime and anywhere.

The other possibility is keeping the company intact and bringing in Microsoft as a stake holder.
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There are better, less painful ways for a large corporation to commit suicide.

The Facebook Buffy smartphone is already almost ready for market:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/22/tech/mobile/facebook-buffy-phone-report/index.html

http://allthingsd.com/20111121/the-facebook-phone-its-finally-real-and-its-name-is-buffy/

But that phone is manufactured by HTC. I can see Facebook buying RIM, but the Blackberry devices and OS are still what killed Blackberry. Blackberries seemed positively primitive even compared to the lowest end Android phones The largest Blackberry screen is still smaller than most smartphones on the market, and the built in keyboard is a dinosaur. I used to swear by them, and I have owned a smartphone ever since the first Treo came out way back in the 20th Century. But I hated my Blackberry. I got rid of it within a week, and ended up with a Treo Pro.

Joelist, yes Blackberry did once dominate the business market, but iPhone ate its lunch and Android ate its dinner and it starved to death. :fatigue:

 

[Joelist]

Actually BB still does control the corporate market, principally because corporate IT departments distrust Android security and don't want iPhones because they don't like opening up their secure network to Apple. Ice Cream Sandwich will help a little but it is a big opportunity for Windows Phone 8 as it has all the remote management, encryption and other security goodies built in.

 

[Bluce Ree]

Actually BB still does control the corporate market, principally because corporate IT departments distrust Android security and don't want iPhones because they don't like opening up their secure network to Apple. Ice Cream Sandwich will help a little but it is a big opportunity for Windows Phone 8 as it has all the remote management, encryption and other security goodies built in.

RIM's biggest hook into corporate IT is its BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) integration. It's something that neither Apple nor Android can compete with at the moment because it offers an option to bring unified messaging under the enterprise's control.

I still dislike Blackberry. Their phones suck and their business savvy is 10 years behind the rest of the planet.

 

[Joelist]

RIM's biggest hook into corporate IT is its BES (Blackberry Enterprise Server) integration. It's something that neither Apple nor Android can compete with at the moment because it offers an option to bring unified messaging under the enterprise's control.

I still dislike Blackberry. Their phones suck and their business savvy is 10 years behind the rest of the planet.

Indeed. I have to use one at work and it is painful. And yes the root of their grip is BES which is where the management and security comes from. This is another place where Windows Phone 8 can displace BB, because it brings the security and management without the BES shackles (ActiveSync is free and all the management tools and security are baked into the OS from the get go).

 

[Overmind One]

Indeed. I have to use one at work and it is painful. And yes the root of their grip is BES which is where the management and security comes from. This is another place where Windows Phone 8 can displace BB, because it brings the security and management without the BES shackles (ActiveSync is free and all the management tools and security are baked into the OS from the get go).

Backberry's biggest customer were government contractors, subcontractors and some law enforcement agencies. The BES meets or exceeds requirements as far as secure communications and data transmissions go. But Apple has really stepped up to the place on security, as has Microsoft and Windows 7m and the coming Windows 8. Android is behind Microsoft and Apple security wise, and Apple's "eye in your ear" stealth tracking and closed system is unacceptable to most any official agency, which makes it a pariah in the BYOD (bring your own device) corporate pool. Androids are making inroads. The Blackberry Enterprise Server is a nice bit of software and can command armies of Blackberries, giving control and security of data. In many ways, BES was one of the first "Cloud" server-side apps available.

With Blackberry gone, we will see a surge in sales for one of these three remaining players. The trending will tell you where the money will go. I think one of the coolest most valuable things that RIM has to offer is the name "Blackberry". It is one of the most recognized English words in the world, an is tied to any smartphone with a keyboard and shape like a RIM device. Much like the word "Kleenex" stands for all tissues. Maybe the name will carry to a new maker?