RIM must remember who they are marketing to

[scorpio]

I posted this over at Crackberry, but wanted your guys opinion too

Because they obviously have no freaking idea!
RIM was once worth 80 billion, now only worth 15... Still a heck of a lot of money, but seemingly small compared with Apple having an estimate value of 223 billion.
what is RIM doing wrong.... oh right, blackberry's aren't as fun as iPhones or Android devices. I have a 9700, but I also have a Samsung Galaxy Tab. To be frank, the tab is just funner to play with. Way more apps, and more customizable. My 9700 with OS 6, not so much.
Yeah, I think the Torch 2 is going to be cool. and I plan on upgrading soon. But what about others?
I go to the gym, everyone there is using an iPhone. I am the only one with a Blackberry. Literally.
Blackberry is trying to overcome the stigma they are business phones, but their marketing department should be fired as they are not doing a good job.
RIM needs to show that Blackberrys can be FUN to use to appeal to the consumer. The best way to do this, is to show it in their Ads. They tried this approach when they were marketing the Torch, but they were showing how helpful the Torch is. Not so much how much fun it is.
Look at the new BlackBerrys! They have this! They have that! They have the other thing. And the end user says "who cares?"
The girl next store really does not care if the Bold 9900 has a gyroscope or not. She wants to have fun with her phone. She wants more apps, she wants HER Blackberry, not RIMS Blackberry.
There are those who will always go to a Blackberry no matter what. Me, the reason is BBM. All my friends use it. But one by one, they are jumping on the iPhone wagon.
So please RIM, show people Blackberrys can be fun! Show the average user they want to use them, and they will have fun on them

Remember TIVO? Cool product, I agree. But the same thing happened to TIVO thats happening to RIM.

[davidA]

Blackberry should stick to their roots (IMO) which is the providing of safe, secure, powerful, communications. Although I am not in business these days, I am still looking for secure communications, in a strong well built device.

The providing of strong business phones is not a stigma! - it is a major market!

[jaStrom]

I hear you, but I don't think that RIM has much of a chance out-marketing Apple, which has won awards for its ads, or Google, which doesn't really need to market itself much since its a household name.

RIM is going to need more than a good advertising campaign to solve its problems.

[tedstriker]

Sorry Scorpio, I don't think it's so much a matter of fun as much as a matter of functionality. Google/Android is eating everyone's lunch by offering the convenience of free hosting of users' info on their servers (colloquially known as the "cloud") That plus their "open" architecture which encourages innovative apps. Even Apple is now, belatedly, offering to store your stuff on the "cloud".
As much as I'd like to be patriotic (and I even went to U. of Waterloo years ago) I think that RIM is basically toast, as far as the consumer market is concerned. Their overall market share will continue to slide and the best they can hope to achieve is to hang on to their core business users with whatever strategic strengths they can offer.
Succeeding, or even surviving, in a fast-changing, competitive field like this requires a clear strategic vision of the future and a willingness to "bet the farm" to get there. RIM hasn't done that and now they are paying the price.
:(
+1, there is still alot that can be done in the enterprise market, and RIM has that market cornered. I have an android phone now and it would be a nightmare to use as a work phone. RIM has a distinctive, unique product, it shouldn't try to be like the others.

[jaStrom]

+1, there is still alot that can be done in the enterprise market, and RIM has that market cornered. I have an android phone now and it would be a nightmare to use as a work phone. RIM has a distinctive, unique product, it shouldn't try to be like the others.

That's true, but it's tricky to be in a defensive posture after a failed aggressive one. They need to offer enterprise more than what they've got right now.

[0defaced]

RIM are marketing to old people in business suits, trying to think they know what young people want........at least that's what i get out of it.

[edwardbluff]

The only good thing about Blackberry is the physical keyboard an BBM.
Sadly, the new IPhone is going to have iMessage basicaly a copy of BBM for iPhones and for other devices there's Whatsapp which works on all the phones.
Concerning the physical keyboard, HTC has started copying them and as android is on HTC phones, they will sell better than Blackberry.
So the two good things remaining on Blackberrys are being copied by other the phones and are going to be better! Sooner or later, Blackberry won't have any good points left!

[Sweet_Ben]

I work for Bell in a retail shop. Yesterday, I had a customer wich doesnt have a phone in particular in mind. After questionning about his need, (no much browsing, more text), iv figured this customer would like Blackberrry. When I proposed him one of the new Black, I'v came close to loose my sale as he felt insulted... He finally bought a Motorola XT (superphone with a big slider keyboard).

People are'nt just indiferent to Blackberry. They really hate it. RIM has a lot of job to do to regain a good image with the general consumer. I personnaly think that BB Os7 are really good phones, but it's so much difficult to explain this to customer that it's easier to sell them Android phone even if I know they would have enjoyed more a Black, for it's incredible keyboard, e-mail and text functionallity and easy interface.

[unity04]

I think the new BlackBerry devices are superb and a step in the right direction. They're fast, excellent devices for communication, and have very nice screens. Take the new Torch for example: it's almost the same screen size as the iPhone 4, touch screen is very responsive (from the demo unit I tried at Bell), and the keyboard is great. I've been browsing the BlackBerry App World online store and noticed there's a lot of quality apps available on BlackBerry's such as Poynt, Documents To Go, Flixster, Flashlight, Wordpress, CP24, TunedIn Radio, FourSquare, Facebook, Twitter, Windows Live, BlackBerry Travel, Dictionary, YouTube, HowCast, Calorie Counter, Google Maps, Google Talk, Daily Horoscope, Navita Translator, Compass, Podcasts, BlackBerry Protect, Slacker Radio, AIM, BeWeather, Yahoo Messenger, Memo Pad, Tasks, etc.. The only apps it really lacks are apps from games. Personally, I'd rather have a well functioning device than a device made for gaming, but everyone's preferences change. I think if RIM invested more money into their applications, then the BlackBerry would do better. From what I've seen, the new OS 7 devices are really good. RIM just needs to releases devices sooner, not wait a year, and have devices that pack futuristic specs.

[kman]

I think the new BlackBerry devices are superb and a step in the right direction. They're fast, excellent devices for communication, and have very nice screens. Take the new Torch for example: it's almost the same screen size as the iPhone 4, touch screen is very responsive (from the demo unit I tried at Bell), and the keyboard is great. I've been browsing the BlackBerry App World online store and noticed there's a lot of quality apps available on BlackBerry's such as Poynt, Documents To Go, Flixster, Flashlight, Wordpress, CP24, TunedIn Radio, FourSquare, Facebook, Twitter, Windows Live, BlackBerry Travel, Dictionary, YouTube, HowCast, Calorie Counter, Google Maps, Google Talk, Daily Horoscope, Navita Translator, Compass, Podcasts, BlackBerry Protect, Slacker Radio, AIM, BeWeather, Yahoo Messenger, Memo Pad, Tasks, etc.. The only apps it really lacks are apps from games. Personally, I'd rather have a well functioning device than a device made for gaming, but everyone's preferences change. I think if RIM invested more money into their applications, then the BlackBerry would do better. From what I've seen, the new OS 7 devices are really good. RIM just needs to releases devices sooner, not wait a year, and have devices that pack futuristic specs.

While I agree with some of you points, I have to strongly disagree with you on a few points... and these points are KILLING RIM.

1. Their last few product releases were so under powered, people now assume Blackberry devices will be laggy/slow. (I say this as the sad owner of a laggy 9800 which replaced a laggy 9000. I remember the "Its ok if its only 2/3 the processor of the galaxy phones, RIM OS is so efficient you don't need more processing" spin. Fooled once, fooled twice...

2. Blackberry apps still suck. Bad. Comparing apps on my Captivate and Tab, compared to on my 9800 is like comparing an iPad to a kindle. Their not even in the same league and everyone knows it.

3. Buying a new blackberry because of OS7 is like buying a freshly painted buggy while everyone is buying new Model T automobiles. OS7 is the last gasp of a long obsolete OS. With QNX coming next year, I don't know why anyone would buy an OS7 device, unless you have money to burn buying a modern era blackberry next year.

RIM was in a bad spot with this device release cycle. They are coming out with a drastic new OS direction next year, so this year is just an attempt to keep a few more bums in seats until they can go "all in" in gambling next year that QNX devices can save whats left of their bacon.

I hope it works, but I sure as hell won't be surprised if it doesn't. Its sad they rested on their earlier success as long as they did.

[unity04]

1. Their previous phones have been laggy, but the new OS 7 devices are smooth as butter. I've tried a few and I experienced no lag, and when compared side by side to an iPhone 4, the OS 7 devices (Bold 9900 and 9810 Torch) were faster than the iPhone (application opening, browser, overall smoothness and fluidness). I think the new Berry's RIM released are a step in the right direction and make up for their previous batch of devices.

2. My friend has a Galaxy S II, and at the end of the day, there's a only a few more good apps on the Galaxy S II than on BlackBerrys. Do a search on the online market and you'll discover a lot of useful, quality apps. I've been surprised with what I've found. The only downside in their apps is that there's no good games. Application wise, I've found good apps.

3. That can be applied to anything. Why buy a car this year when next year a newer model, possibly redesigned will be released. Why buy an iPhone 4 now when the iPhone 5 is being announced next week (people are still signing 3 year contracts to get a $99 iPhone 4). The OS 7 devices are a HUGE upgrade, and I mean huge. When using the Bold 9900 it doesn't feel like any of it's previous phones at all.

It's no surprise RIM is struggling, but the devices they released Q3 are excellent. They just need to hurry up and get their next generation phones out to get back in the game.

[Jake Storm]

They need to market BB Balance more.
And they need to build on the fact that it is easier to add games to a proven secure business device than it is to try and get security certification for an iPod.
Big thing is getting 3rd party developers on board for the consumer apps. I think they went a long way in achieving that with the SDK tools they announced at DevCon.
They future looks good for RIM with the new BBX OS, it's just going to take a few months to implement.

[FranzJoseph]

They better make a Bbx Bold, I'm not ready to get an all touch phone just yet.

[Phyxius]

ok i am going to jump in this discussion because we have a lot of heated debates at work about blackberry.
first my history with phones was blackberry in 08/09, 10/11 iPhone, and soon to get the galaxy nexus. (however for work i have used all the phones several times)
i loved blackberry's, i loved my storm, everyone has issues with them except mine, it ran perfectly. i found them to be better than the early android versions, and iPhone wasn't available to my carrier at the time.

today my wife has the 9800 torch. i have an iPhone but i regularly use android phones and blackberry's for troubleshooting purposes. i absolutely hate the bb interface, the maps are horrible. the browsing is slow, even in the bb 9900. i haven't tried the bb app world in the new ones but the 9800 when you download something... omg it clocks and you can't use your phone until it downloads and installs. it isn't smooth.

the only save factor are their emails which i love, and bbm. its easy to troubleshoot, and if i have to tbst an email problem with iPhone or android, i create their email on the bis and i know right away where the issue is.

but overall iPhone and android phones are leaps and bounds beyond blackberry in the smoothness of the phones, the "fun" factor and appeals to most people. and just google maps is soooooo much better than the bb apps. even ovi maps was better.

i wouldn't be surprised to see bb hardware disappear, rim selling their servers and bbm services to android and maybe even windows. making it a payable app. i hope rim bounces back but i think they are to late. the RIM powerhouse has come and gone and we are seeing them dying off slowly but surely

[IAmMe2]

I'm very impressed with the OS2.0 demo for the playbook. They've done a great job at improving upon BB Bridge to make seamless communication between the playbook and your phone. Also, with the ability to use Android apps on the playbook, I can see the hardware staying relevant as long as they improve the cost:performance ratio which right now is not very good for their phones.

I'd say between the improvements in OS2.0 and the upcoming BB10, but it is the make it or break it release for them. If BB10 fails, whether through software or hardware deficiencies, RIM is done as a hardware manufacturer. They really need to hit it out of the park with their next release to restore consumer confidence. I'd say being able to use android apps on the phones/playbook would be a huge boost, and help offset their own lagging app store.

I'm definitely hopeful because I like RIM as a company and they have a history of good solid products, they just havn't kept up in the last little while.