SORRY, THIS NUMBER IS NO LONGER IN SERVICE. Does it ring a bell?
Unnoticed on Jan 4th, Blackberry smartphones' life came to an end. What once was the most iconic and used mobile phone/smart device in business world & corporate environments, that achieved impressive 50% Market Share in the US and 20% worldwide, is now over. Their future will continue on software development and security streams.
The once unique features, as full keyboard, messaging platform and security, granted Blackberry a well deserved first place, but a lack of consumer insight and a rather awkward design, led them to a downfall with no way back for those less than 200k devices still standing today.
Quoting Murphy's Law: "if anything can go wrong, it will", several flags were visible, which RIM just disregarded in a mix of self-pride and total unawareness, as:
Competitors: Yesterday, but in 2007 Apple launched their first iPhone which was ridiculed for not having a "physical" keyboard. In October 2008 the T-Mobile G1 was released as the first Android++ phone device.
Massive Outage: Few remember that in October 2011
Blackberry experienced a 3 day outage - felt more like a deadly coma - affecting nearly all 70 million users, with very unclear statements from RIM that didn't satisfy Corporate giants, Stock Exchange analysts nor Business press.
Opportunity: Who had foretell that Apple's iPhone 4S was going on sale Friday that exact same October week while on the other side of the street, Android (with Gingerbread 2.3) was being deployed on to HTC, Huawei, LG, Motorola and Samsung devices among others.
Social Media: Nearly burned them at the stake, comments moved from mild frustration to open anger and clear messages that future updates will include "looking for options"
Q3 '21 data shows market share spotlights shine on:
Samsung: 20%; 14 models, 69.3 million units sold.
Apple: 14%, 6 models, 38 million units sold.
Xiaomi: 13%, 44.4 million units sold.
Curiously, in corporate environments, security continues to be the main concern but Apps development, compatibility and ease to deploy is making today a BIG difference.
Lessons learned:
You must know your market. Understand your strengths and weaknesses.
Don't fall asleep on past success: Keep your ears open and your feet on the ground.
Be always aware of what our user's needs and demands are and where are they heading. Yes! Security & Mail management was your strength, but not anymore.
Don't be selfish, SHARE! If you are not looking interesting, nobody will write Apps for your ecosystem.
Have a "B" Plan: Be ready to do urgent decommissioning if needed.
Bottom line: BlackBerry's legacy in enterprise mobility must not be forgotten.
