Shares in RIM, the Blackberry maker ‘crashed’ by 16% last night as it issued a profits warning as well as reporting profits 10% lower in the quarter ending end May 11. RIM’s woes are well documented and in many ways mirror those faced by Nokia. Both were once the smartphone market leaders. Now both face twin pressures from new ‘upstarts’ Apple and Android.
I’ve been a Blackberry user for many years. Indeed more people in TechMarketView carry Blackberries than the iPhone. The Blackberry is just very good at email – particularly when you are abroad as I am at the moment. The problem is that it is ‘only’ good at email. In every other department – particularly web surfing and Apps – it is so far behind that it is embarrassing. Indeed this is becoming such a great issue that even I am contemplating a change. The iCloud will probably make it so much easier for me to go ‘all-Apple’. Indeed, Apple’s iMessage is a major threat to the all important BBM system which saw so many teenage consumers going down the Blackberry route.