
If you already take an interest in mobile phones and electronics tip for almost ten years, and is likely to see the BlackBerry as an innovative and strong company, but has lost its way over time. After all, the old RIM was the company that practically birthed the smartphone segment.
On account of the first BlackBerry devices, people (especially executives) could use their phones to send emails and access the internet in a dynamic manner, making the concept of a smart appliance arise. Both she was a symbol of innovation and quality for a few years.
However, even with this position of great advantage in the mobile market, the BlackBerry is no longer the great company it once was. Quite the contrary. The leadership of the smartphone market is split between Apple, Google and Samsung, and RIM is struggling to keep active.
The question is: what went wrong along the way? If you also have this curiosity and want some answers, just keep reading this article.
The problems came directly above
Mike Lazaridis, one of the founders of BlackBerry. (Image Source: Reproduction / BlackBerryEmpire)
As many people probably imagine, the difficulties of BlackBerry began with the arrival of the Apple smartphone market (2007), which was closely followed by Google and Samsung. Therefore, new models of optimal cell entered in the contest for consumers, as these devices were seen as objects of consumption and not as work tools -. Simply took what the focus of the BlackBerry
Thus, the only solution was innovation. However, CEOs who kept the company at the time – Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, RIM’s founders – were not as open to change. After all, the company was responsible for the emergence of a market segment and was still doing very well on it. And of course this “inertia” was very damaging over the years.
Creating that “snowball” …
The first blow to the empire began to deconstruct the BlackBerry was the demand from India and the Middle East using a watch upon the smartphones of the company, with the goal of getting mixed messages and email exchanges. With this, we put in doubt the safety of RIM devices, a characteristic that was the pride of the company.
This happened in the year 2011, with Lazaridis did not know how to handle the situation. Adding this to the relative lack of innovation, formed a “snowball” that generated some wrong decisions at the right time, making the BlackBerry paid for the path chosen by their leaders.
Thebet the turn. But what upset?
When Apple launched its first iPad (in 2010) and the tablet market began to “rotate”, the BlackBerry saw an opportunity to turn the tables and back to being a really impressive company and market leader. However, she fell behind and had to compete with models already offered by Samsung.
Still, in 2010, RIM put on the market its own tablet, named PlayBook. The consumer-focused public by the company was somewhat different from targeted by competitors since the intention was to provide a device for those who have to work with him.

turns out that the software offered by BlackBerry was especially weak when compared to other tablets – the operating system did not even have a calendar, contacts or division to native mail service function for which the company has always been known. Because of this, sales ended up being really weak, resulting in an annual loss of a whopping $ 485 million (equivalent to over U.S. $ 1 billion).
As would be expected, RIM ended up seeing obliged to dismiss 2000 employees, reducing its global workforce by 10%. Shortly thereafter, several key executives of the company have opted to leave their positions, including Vice President, Digital Marketing and one of the COOs -. Namely really important people
The company is in the place where
(Image Source: Reproduction / April)?
problems generated from the PlayBook arrived by the year 2011. Meanwhile, more layoffs happened and we saw BlackBerry unprepared in order to compete with other companies that worked within the mobile handset market. The biggest gamble was the BlackBerry 10, but its delivery was delayed and he eventually ended up in fact to the market only in 2013.
Because of this, even at the end of 2011, the value of RIM fell 70%. The crisis was so great that one of the alternatives for raising funds was the sale of a patent or the company itself. However, these solutions were rejected, and the market reach of the company continued to fall.
Due to all these problems and recurring losses, the BlackBerry just getting further from the leadership of the market segment it helped create. Today, the company faces major financial problems, and that she had considered the sale again and is no longer a large organization that was several years ago.
Predictions for the future of BB
John S. Chen, the new CEO of BlackBerry. (Image Source: Reproduction / BlackBerryEmpire)
Considering the fall of the whole empire of ancient RIM, the question remains: BlackBerry will be able to rebuild? The only possible answer is that nobody knows. However, the company’s staff is working to make that happen – and they really believe it is possible that a good sign
.
As to be expected, the CEOs of the company have changed a few times over the years. So, the last person to assume this office was John S. Chen – and he will earn $ 1 million a year to restructure the BB. He has experience in saving organizations, being that your resume has the “resurgence” of Sybase, which nearly went bankrupt in the late 1990s.
Until hiring Chen was announced, it was believed that the BlackBerry was actually sold – had information that even Facebook could be one of the buyers, as well as Lenovo. However, this decision was not something popular among investors and was discarded with the entry of new chief executive.
There is nothing guaranteedAnother solution that was announced in the media would be the division of the company, which was promptly denied by the BlackBerry, to be against the interests of all employees. However, different companies – Apple and Microsoft are two good examples -. Interested in buying in acquiring patents and other parts of the company
Still, for now the BlackBerry remains steadfast in resolve to rebuild alone – so much so that some investors have pumped millions of dollars seeking the renewal of the company. However, the two share options mentioned above may come to pass if Chen fails in its mission. Thus, all we can do is wait and hope that RIM again be all that was.
