[Closed] BlackBerry Gives Up On Consumer Market

No apps = death.

Can't say as I'm totally shocked. I've always said that they're brilliant corporate devices but poor personal ones. I can't think of anything I'd rather have as a work phone.

Popular with the kids for some reason, BBM and all that. Never quite understood that.

I would rather use my iphone for work over my bumberry.

No apps = death.

Catch 22, isn't it. No unit sales = no apps, no apps = no unit sales.

You're right, though. The stale "Blackberry World" is its biggest problem; that's where the serious investment needed to go.

Thing is - after the outages/complete collapse of the system earlier in the year, business users have been running a mile too.

Well its going the way of Nokia IMO.

Catch 22, isn't it. No unit sales = no apps, no apps = no unit sales.

Partly that, but also a problem of making it a pain to develop for, and needing to jump through hoops to code for it and to release apps.

iPhone and Android both have lovely modern operating systems that are easy to write apps for, and apps have really taken off. Same with Symbian, it was the most horrible piece of junk to develop for, and nokia made it worse by making it a real expensive pain to release apps publicly for, so no developer with half a brain would ever write anything for it, so it went boom.

Apple have the pain that is approval, but they seem to have got away with that, partly by making it dead easy to do and partly just due to the perceived higher profits to be made from users of such incredibly expensive phones.

5 years ago a Blackberry made sense, I can't see any reason a consumer or a corpo would buy them now other than you can do a lot of centralised policy control but realistically how many corpos need much more than basic stuff like remote wiping which you can do on Android and iPhones.

Bloody Blackberry World - half the time I get update notifications, it's for the sodding Blackberry World itself ffs!

Wasn't this on the cards when they released their first tablet with no native email client? Talk about not having a clue

Just been on the radio, RIM have confirmed they're [i]not [/i]pulling out of the consumer market.

It's this sort of decisive action that made them great.

It's a bit ironic as they're really popular with teenagers due to BBM and free messages, yet with white collar workers, they're loosing ground to Apple eg at my work we've all gone to iPhones / Android, no one wants a blackberry any more.

I guess iMessage will kill-off the teenage Blackberry market to

I'm the other way, where I work we swapped out Iphone 4s for blackberry 9900s and they're better by a mile for the stuff we do. (Lots of email and encrypted access)

Within the industry, there's a concensus that RIM may dissapear up it's own chuff given recent performance

I don't think that view is restricted to the industry. They've been on borrowed time for ages and consistently failed to capitalise on any of the great ideas they've had.

Just as work "upgrade" me to a Blackberry 🙁

Still - are there any decent tracking/training apps to be had for it?

Just as work "upgrade" me to a Blackberry 🙁

Still - are there any decent tracking/training apps to be had for it?

consistently failed to capitalise on any of the great ideas they've had.

Same story as Nokia really - it was theirs for the taking, and for some reason they completely failed to take it!

Same story as Nokia really - it was theirs for the taking, and for some reason they completely failed to take it!

The exact thing that made Blackberry popular with business users in the first place is entirely at odds with what made the iPhone and Andriod phones popular in general. So to "take it" they would have had to completely redesign their product and business model.

Same for Nokia, the thing that made them popular was making the best phones. But this is at odds with mini-computers that also make phone calls. Again, to "take it" they would have had to redesign their business model and products from the ground up (something they are now doing with Windows phones).

Odd, I thought the next version of their OS was going to include an Android emulator so you could use Google Play/Market for apps a plenty. Must be dead in the water so have dropped consumers.
I upgrade in six months, either stick with Android or try out Win8...

The exact thing that made Blackberry popular with business users in the first place is entirely at odds with what made the iPhone and Andriod phones popular in general. So to "take it" they would have had to completely redesign their product and business model.

^^This^^

The Crackberry remains the best mobile business communication device out there. If you want a toy, by all means get a JesusPhone or Android. Then you can tell everyone about all the apps you have. Lucky you.

As a communication tool, Blackberry really got it right.

[url= http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/03/30/rim_denies_consumer_exit/ ]or not?[/url]

I'm an unashamed BB fan. For my needs, it works so much better than an iPhone. But we have moved to MS Exchange, the company doesn't want to keep paying for BES licenses. So everyone is moving to Android and iPhone. What BB need to do is think about reducing their reliance on BES as I can see that this isn't going to be sustainable.

And of course, what teenager/rioter/... wouldn't want free secure messaging and file transfer. Although Son1 has expectations of his mother's iPhone.

Last point, at 200 pounds, the Playbook is great value, especially with OS2. Ask yourself how many Apps you really use.

So to "take it" they would have had to completely redesign their product and business model.

Not really. They were early leaders in "smartphone" tech. They had the knowledge, the product and some good patents.

They could, with more far-sighted management, have branched out into a consumer line of smartphones quite easily - well before Apple and Androi got there.

Same for Nokia, the thing that made them popular was making the best phones. But this is at odds with mini-computers that also make phone calls. Again, to "take it" they would have had to redesign their business model and products

Nah - again Nokia were making smartphones with downloadable apps long before Apple. They were just a bit crap at it.

[img] [/img]

Anyone who detests iTunes has clearly never had to faff about with Nokia PC Suite 🙂

As a communication tool, Blackberry really got it right.

I see the argument from a corporate IT point of view. They are much easier to manage, administer and lock down.

But from a user's point of view I can't see that Blackberrys offer much over modern iPhones or 'droids.

Not really. They were early leaders in "smartphone" tech. They had the knowledge, the product and some good patents.

Nah - again Nokia were making smartphones with downloadable apps long before Apple. They were just a bit crap at it.

So neither company was better placed to take advantage of the opportunity as any other big company with cash to spend on R&D. More so it would have been very difficult for them to do it as they would have had to explain to their shareholders that they were abandoning their current successful products, write off all the investment and start from scratch.

As a communication tool, Blackberry really got it right.

Uh oh.. the Count has shown up.

[img] [/img]

[b][url= http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2012/03/the-fanboy-and-the-phone-a-lovehate-story/ ]Fanbois to your trenches![/url][/b]

😉

One thing I will give Blackberry is they stick decent cameras on their phones. My 3.2mp on my Bold takes pretty good pictures.

In his favour though, the Count is making good use of the iParagraph App these days... 😉

What people want is a nano computer that can be used for everything like a computer but much smaller that fit into pocket.

Apple iPhone started the trend but the rest have been playing catch up since, so I am not surprised to see traditional mobile phone companies going burst.

So I suspect there will be more software companies entering the mobile phone market in future. The hardware is merely cosmetic ... 🙄

Oh yeah and battery life, I can talk and email plenty during the day and still have plenty of charge left. My iphone was dead by mid afternoon most days 🙁 Saying that, I have an ipad 3 and it's lovely.

Am I allowed to like my blackberry AND like my ipad? Surely this breaks some kind of code.

Blackberries *were* easier to tie down as corporate devices.

Not any more. There are hundreds of mobile device management solutions out there now, lots of them are better than RIM's and often cheaper. I reckon in a couple of years, most reasonable sized enterprises will offer bring your own device solutions to all their staff who will either get an iphone if they've got money or whatever 50 quid android device that is currently doing the rounds. Blackberrys will be seen no more.

I'm currently operating a proof of concept for one such solution right now. It works really well, integration with exchange is seamless on the iphone, we have far more granular control over the iphones/ipads than we have with our Blackberries, it's massively cheaper and everybody wants it right now. We have 500 Blackberries in use now, if we have any at all in two years I'll be surprised.

My gf has to use a blackberry for work and she absolutely hates it. She's not a big app user on her own phone either (basic Nokia). What was mean to be so good about them?

Catch 22, isn't it. No unit sales = no apps, no apps = no unit sales.

One thing I will give Blackberry is they stick decent cameras on their phones. My 3.2mp on my Bold takes pretty good pictures.

Within the industry, there's a concensus that RIM may dissapear up it's own chuff given recent performance

Blackberries *were* easier to tie down as corporate devices.

Not any more. There are hundreds of mobile device management solutions out there now, lots of them are better than RIM's and often cheaper.

I BYOD to work with my own 4s, and it's locked down via MSExchange with enforcement of passcodes and remote wipe etc, so the advantages BB are now pretty much standard (and free) with Android / Apple devices. Really can't see how they can last seeing as they've dropped from market leader to being so far behind the technology curve in just a few years...

Oh yeah and battery life, I can talk and email plenty during the day and still have plenty of charge left. My iphone was dead by mid afternoon most days

This is the one area where my OH's Blackberry scores over my Android phone- well, that and the physical keyboard, if you're bothered about that. In pretty much every other respect it's like it's a couple of years behind.

I wish there were an iPhone with physical keyboard.

Byod bah humbug!

In pretty much every other respect it's like it's a couple of years behind.

Depends what you need though. My company needs the phone to work well as a phone, and also access to email, remote wipe, encryption and long battery life from our mobile devices. Presently the only company offering all of these is RIM. For similar reasons we still use Solaris 10 on a load of our really important servers because it's rock solid under load and has uptimes measured in years, and when it does fail it fails gracefully. We could stick the latest bells and whistles Linux on but even OEL or RHEL don't fulfill or design criteria.

Saying that I can't wait for iphone 5, my ipad is turning me into a right apple gayboy.

I wish there were an iPhone with physical keyboard.

Not sure why you'd want it but there at least a dozen iPhone cases like this:

[img] [/img]

My company needs the phone to work well as a phone, and also access to email, remote wipe, encryption and long battery life from our mobile devices.

Which of those does the iPhone (or droid) lack then?

Okay battery life: but if you use them like a phone (rather than a personal PC, mp3 player and console) then you get a couple of days out them. Certainly no problem lasting a work day.

I just want to try something here. Call it an experiment. 🙂

Application.

Wow. It actually didn't hurt. It didn't make my brain boil or my guts spew like a double bassist hit the brown note and wouldn't let it go.

I have learned something today.

There really is no pain or strain involved in typing the word 'application'.

My theory is that it's even easier to say it. I will put this to the test tomorrow! 🙂

Petroleum is good too 🙂

Good point arcane.

I also hate it when people say "TV" or "phone".

It's not hard to write or say "television" or "telephone".

Though really they should say "technicolour stereo telephonoscope" and "apparatus for transmitting vocal or other sounds telegraphically"

😉

Arcane, why use four syllables when you can use one, and why type eleven letters when you can type three?
Perhaps you'd like to use the term 'velocipede' rather than 'bike'?
Or perhaps you just want to be an arse?

GrahamS: I'd want a physical keyboard because I don't like virtual touch keyboards. Simple. Thanks for the suggestin - I might i buy one after all.

Arcane: wtf is wrong with "did not" instead of didn't?

You can also use any Bluetooth keyboard so if you [i]really[/i] want you could carry a seperate pocket-sized keyboard for use on the move and have a full size one for use at home.
(same goes for droid naturally)

But to be honest I find the virtual keyboard quite good. (Good enough to answer this post 🙂 )

In some ways it's actually better than a physical keyboard for the kind of typing you do on a phone (how many physical keyboards have a ".co.uk" key or let you easily enter á?ç?ñtëd ??ttèrß?)

Okay battery life: but if you use them like a phone (rather than a personal PC, mp3 player and console) then you get a couple of days out them. Certainly no problem lasting a work day.

You mustn't do much in the way of work 🙂

You mustn't do much in the way of work

More than a Blackberry user apparently:

Blackberry Torch 9800:
1270 mAh battery giving up to 6.5 hours talk time (GSM) or 5.9 (UMTS)

iPhone 4S:
1432mAh battery giving up to 14 hours talk time (GSM) or 8 (3G).

😀

The iPhone only struggles for battery because the usage is different. Folk use/play with it constantly. If you spent two hours playing Angry Birds on a Blackberry then it would struggle just as much.

😯