In 2007 BlackBerry underestimated the capabilities of the iPhone, which led to the loss of the mobile market. Canadian manufacturer was convinced that the business users, which focused on the company’s products, not interested in the gadget without the keyboard. This was stated by the authors of the book “Losing signal” that tells the story of the rise and fall of BlackBerry.
The next day after the presentation of iPhone guide BlackBerry, then called Research In Motion (RIM), had an impromptu meeting to discuss features news. Many expressed doubt that Apple has been able to create a mobile phone without a keyboard with a large touch screen, capable of long time to work offline. Initial reaction to the iPhone was distrust.
BlackBerry didn’t see any threat in the smartphone Apple. The management believe that fans of the brand will not pay attention to the machine is not equipped with a physical keyboard. They decided that the iPhone is good only for surfing the web and watching videos. Moreover, the device had no services to protect. In short, they were confident that the new Apple will not be able to entice them users.
“In BlackBerry believed that if the iPhone will become popular only among users, who are more interested in videos on YouTube and surfing the web. Main customers appreciate high quality and secure communications,” said former chief operating officer of the company.
The authors said that the main reason for the failure of the “pioneers” of the smartphone market – Motorola, Nokia, Palm, BlackBerry – was their attitude to these devices. Last never believed that smartphones can be energy efficient. As a result, the canadian company was late with the release of touch of communicators for more than a year.
In this model BlackBerry Storm sources called belated answer to the iPhone, which began only after the appearance on the market of the smartphone Apple. The announcement of the BlackBerry Storm in November 2008 was accompanied by great fanfare, which was not on anything.
What happened next is well known: the launch of the App Store, the arrival of thousands of business applications and services secured and, as a result, the rapid loss market BlackBerry. By the end of March of the current year the share of the canadian smartphone manufacturer was only 1.6%, compared to 42.6% for iOS.
