How The Mighty Have Fallen?

[LazyGun]

I was an early adopter of Blackberry, and all within the corporate environments I worked within agreed they were the bestest things ever.

I am astonished frankly at how quickly Blackberry have declined - from a peak of around 50% of all mobile phone sales back in 2006 to around 3% now.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/aug/12/blackberry-for-sale-smartphone-market

I am no techie - was this always on the cards,or could Blackberry have turned it around?

[Mattk]

I'm no expert but I believe a significant reason for their success was their messaging tech.
With chat apps being commonly available to all smartphones now their USP has gone.
The security issues of a year or so back certainly wouldn't have helped either

[237SJ]

I don`t know but I did watch a feature on US TV where Blackberry were saying that they have conceded defeat to Apple and Samsung. Most of our corporate customers still seem to have Blackberries as far as I can see but nobody buys them for themselves.

[hc4361]

I think they made a big mistake moving away from the corporate, business market in to the popular mass market aimed at teens.

I still love my Blackberry, it does everything I want and I particularly like the physical keyboard but the lack of apps does let it down in the mass market appeal.

By trying to break in to the 'cheap smartphone for all' market the brand lost its corporate faithful. I still believe it is one of the most secure smartphones on the market but I can't see that lasting once BBM is made available to non BB phones.

Another factor is the perception of Blackberry in the media. A good example is magazines such as WebUser, ComputerActive and PCAdvisor which regularly review apps. M8 was recently reviewed as the best free satnav for smartphone ever - available for Android. Failed to mention it is also available for Blackberry (I've been using it for ages). This happens time and time again.

I honestly don't know if I will buy another Blackberry when the time comes to replace my phone. Hopefully they will be back on track with a definite destination.

[Mosaic]

In the last big corporation I worked in, Crackberrries were status symbols awarded only to certain management bands. But in addition, only directors could access their data or the corporate email system via crackberry (or any other device). All other minions had to physically travel into HQ to open emails. I declined to have one given me for this reason. Not the fault of the device, but the way it was taken up as a social barrier. I feel this kind of approach coloured the popular view of the Blackberry as compared with the youth-centric market targeted by iphone and all imitators.

[AB Editor]

"Could Blackberry have turned it around?"

Yes, if they'd done something in 2007 when the iPhone launched! Sadly they did nothing, made some boring repeat phones and launched a new OS a little too late. No one is very excited for it and it is a little sad. Now it's unlikely any of the big 3 would buy it as they're all invested or linked to manufacturers, and the market share isn't worth it.

[LazyGun]

Thanks for the responses.

What impressed me most about Blackberry at the time I was using them - from around 2003 - 2009 was the push email facility, the physical keyboard feature (like HC I prefer this), and the security of its encryption. All important to me in my business at the time, and I loved it. I moved across to an iPhone with changes in career, mostly because such devices had caught up with improved email handling and so on, as well as the range of functional applications that could be added onto the iPhone but seemed non-existent for the Blackberry - but i still dislike virtual keyboards :)

It just astonishes me how quickly their market share has fallen from such a dominant position in such a short time.

Can you see anyone buying them as a brand, or do you think they have now gone the way of the Dodo?

[hc4361]

Going the way of Betamax, that's for sure. :(

[AB Editor]

"Can you see anyone buying them as a brand, or do you think they have now gone the way of the Dodo?"

I don't think there's much value left in their brand - not enough for anyone to pay for it. Someone like HP or Yahoo could buy them - but they've both got awful track records for acquisitions, so I don't think anyone wants that.

There's always Amazon I suppose...

But MS are tied into Windows Phone (and Nokia by their leverage agreement)
Google bought part of Motorola (which isn't working too well for them)
Apple aren't interested in other's hardware or OS
Samsung Are quite well tied into Android

These type of messaging heavy phones are still popular in places like Africa, India and parts of South America - so a rich Indian could buy it and swamp the low-end market... but there's not much of a margin there!

Just some ideas, and in their press release they stated they were only "thinking about it" :)

[jd_1984]

When they went from corporate/business market to mainstream "fashion accessory" for all teenagers and "hip" people they lost their identity I think and other smartphones have come up to the mark and swayed away customers who though 4 years ago Blackberry was the thing to be seen with..

[AB Editor]

Jd, that was a desperate move by a company already in trouble, and not a cause. However they probably made that desperate lurch because they found the grown-up clients (politicians and other powerful persons) were leaving them for iPhones - they probably saw the biggest growth area for private messaging as teenagers and went for that.

They found a problem, but answered a different question. They should have been asking what the grown-ups want, and shoring up their top end.

Anyway, this is all in the past.

I can recommend Windows Phone to anyone wanting to make a change - although, to be honest, all major OSs cover all the BB requirements/functions.

[LazyGun]

Which major phone operating system offers encryption and stops the spooks from snooping? :)

Much as I like the iPhone, and I do for all sorts of reasons, from apps to its stylishness - I really do miss a physical keypad when texting and emailing etc.

[AB Editor]

Yep, there's not much out there for you currently Lazygun - except BB... even then there's only one new one with a keyboard: http://www.zdnet.com/blackberry-q5-review-a-qwerty-smartphone-for-the-masses-7000019129/

[AB Editor]

"Which major phone operating system offers encryption and stops the spooks from snooping? :)"

And as for that, I have no idea - although certain companies are trying to build on the concept.

I don't know about the other OSes but windows phone has a nice way of setting up a work profile on your phone, so you can switch to that which uses lots of clever encrypted stuff which I don't understand.

[B00]

I adored my Blackberry, and if it wasn't for the limited apps on it, id still have it, it was a fantastic phone.

[hc4361]

I'll be keeping my BB Torch until it dies.

[hc4361]

boo, out of interest what apps do you currently use a lot?

[B00]

mostly "throw away" games that i'll play till bored with then delete, but thinking of it, I do remember getting increasingly frustrating at it taking aggggggggggggges to load an internet page.

[hc4361]

I use Opera Mini on my Torch and find it quite whizzy on the internet.

[AB Editor]

Related and interesting: http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/13/4617930/message-unread-silicon-valleys-secret-failed-bid-to-save-blackberry

[hc4361]

Thanks, ED.