- Posts tagged RIM
- Explore RIM on posterous
Five Stars, When Nobody Else Could Garner Four
While the competition peaks at "about average", Apple passes "better than most" to be "among the best".
Not sure the word "among" is even necessary.
There Is No Plan B.
The chart totals over 100% because respondents were allowed multiple choices. That's too bad because it skews things a bit. Yes, the iPad is stomping everyone, but 94.5% has less meaning when the total comes to nearly 150%.
It's better to look at this one column at a time, where we can determine a device's absolute rejection (not acceptance). For example, we don't know that 3.8% of respondents would buy a RIM PlayBook, because it may have been their second choice, but we do know 96.2% of respondents rejected it outright, since it's not on their list at all.
I think of the beatdown like this: for each iPad competitor (column), 90% or more of respondents rejected it. In other words, nine out of 10 people wouldn't even put it on their list as a second choice. Meanwhile, the iPad is rejected only 5.5% of the time. Put it all together and we know not only that the vast majority of respondents are interested in the iPad, but that for most of them there is no Plan B.
The Answer Is No.
Sales not as fast as expected… a Samsung executive revealed those figures don’t represent actual sales to consumers. Instead, they are the number of Galaxy Tab devices that Samsung has shipped to wireless companies and retailers
According to one source who’s seen internal HP reports, Best Buy has taken delivery of 270,000 TouchPads and has so far managed to sell only 25,000, or less than 10 percent of the units in its inventory.
RIM has quietly cut its sales expectations for the BlackBerry PlayBook after its disappointing sales from the spring
New estimates for sales of Motorola's Xoom tablet--available since late February--are in, but even the most optimistic predictions are scarily small and pale next to the iPad 2's first-weekend sales numbers.
Sprint cancels plans to well RIM's PlayBook
A Sprint spokeswoman added that the decision “has no impact on our relationship with RIM.” The Overland Park, Kan., company noted that competing tablets, such as the Xoom from Motorola Mobility Holding and the EvoView from HTC, had increased competition in the space.
The PlayBook was turned down because the unimpressive Xoom and unimpressive EVO View were considered "increased competition"? Ouch! That's got to leave a mark.
I hope Sprint didn't email RIM the news, they won't get it on their PlayBooks.
RIM Sr. Executive: "I have lost confidence"
Almost every project is falling further and further behind schedule at a time when we absolutely must deliver great, solid products on time. We urge you to make bold decisions about our organisational structure, about our culture and most importantly our products.
I'm not quite sure how to take this letter.
On The One Hand
It's not bad advice, though more or less just a compendium of things the tech press has been saying. It's somewhat "easy" to suggest that RIM copy Apple's strategy, not so much because Apple is successful, but because RIM controls the whole widget, like Apple, so they could do many of these things.
However, when Apple entered the market they had little in the way of obligations to others beyond the exclusivity with AT&T, for which they were granted the power to create the phone they wanted. RIM is in no such position. RIM has included or excluded features at the carriers' whim (like all other phone makers) since the beginning. Maybe they could have broken free of that in their heyday (though they showed no sign of wanting to), but they certainly can't now given their weak position.
Bottom line is much of this plea calls for RIM to do things they cannot do given their current state. Like it or not, they'll need to start small.
On The Other Hand
There are time one doubts its authenticity. A flood of checkpoint issues to work on, with no prioritization, isn't very sound. The "how" and "when" is a hell of a lot harder than the "what". For example, sure Apple's ads are cool and RIM's are not, but who really believes RIM is where they are now due to their ads?
Focusing on the end user sounds great (you hear Google talk about it a lot, too). The problem is these companies' end user is not the person actually using their product. For RIM, it's the Enterprise and the carriers. The letter acknowledges this, but as I said above RIM is not in a good position to break those ties. I think RIM's current relative weakness must be a factor in how they choose to proceed.
Finally, the letter in some ways is too dramatic. Asking the CEOs to step down and replace themselves, and even naming names (e.g. "the guy responsible for the 9530 software"). If RIM corporate culture is as bad as he says it is, then this guy's gone and he knows it. If that's true, it's easy to toss out a letter bomb before leaving. He must have known it would "leak". It may help him land a better job elsewhere, but I hope Apple doesn't pick him up.
Where To Go
Personally, I think the first thing RIM needs to do is take a serious look at the Blackberry Bold 9900 due shortly and make sure it's the best BB ever made (like the iPhone was "the best iPod ever made"). It's ridiculous that they're releasing phones today that look like those from four years ago, but they can at least ensure it kicks ass on the BB scale and make every Crackberry user want it. That's how Apple started their turnaround. Embrace the loyal users, stabilize things, then go from there.
ZDNet: Alas, poor RIM and BlackBerry, we knew them well
How much worse can this possibly get? You get one of your key executives on record to talk about QNX replacing BlackBerry OS 7 sometime in 2012. Never mind the fact that the first BlackBerry OS 7 device, the Bold 9900, hasn’t even shipped yet.
RIM has certainly come a long way since the days they didn't know anybody who could type on a sheet of glass.
Tablet Haikus
asymco on what you have to believe for an Android dominated future
Possibly Horace Dediu's best analysis yet. Great read on why it's too early to claim Android, iOS, or any other mobile platform will dominate the smartphone future.
