I hear the news about RIM, and I can’t help but feel sorry for them. It’s a story of “you snooze, you lose”. Not too long ago the Blackberry was at the top of its market, but now it seems that Apple and Samsung have taken over. Is the release of the new mobile OS, Blackberry 10, too little too late? Will the Blackberry Z10 and Q10 bring home enough bacon for RIM to keep it alive?
Wall Street’s knee jerk reaction is no, with RIM stock plunging 12% after yesterday’s unveiling. RIM stock, this morning, opened with an additional 9% loss chiseled off of yesterday’s closing price. The investors do not seem to be impressed.
The Verge reviewer Joshua Topolsky gave the Z10 a rating of 7 out of 10. Like me, it seems that pities RIM; he just wouldn’t recommend spending money on it. He says it’s really not a bad phone. It has great reception and makes good calls (you think that’d be enough for a telephone nowadays, eh?). However, he says “t’s swimming against a massive wave of entrenched players with really, really good products. Products they figured out how to make years ago. Products that are mature. The smartphone industry doesn’t need saving.”
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDtxZr5TS7E]
It looks nice enough with its “rounded edges”. For RIM’s sake, I hope these “rounded edges” do not inspire an Apple v. Samsung – esque lawsuit. However, I wouldn’t bet on Apple going out of its way to crush RIM in a lawsuit for copying the iPhone. Frankly, RIM is just not relevant anymore.
For a company named Research in Motion, RIM seemed to let its competitors do all the moving.