BlackBerry's Collapse: 5 Key Mistakes

Posted on Saturday Aug 17th at 8:06am
Watching BlackBerry stumble and fall during the last few years has not been pleasant. The company once stood at the top of the smartphone market. Its smartphones were carried by mobile professionals in the tens of millions. These devices were the envy of the office and the company helped push mobility in new and exciting directions.
And then everything went wrong.
The company made a number of mistakes along the way that led to its current position at the bottom of the smartphone market. It's still losing share. BlackBerry this week announced that it is exploring strategic options, including an outright sale of the company to investors or other third parties. BlackBerry is close to the end of the road and desperately seeking an escape route.
Here's how BlackBerry found itself trapped with nowhere to go.
1. It wrote off the iPhone.
Former BlackBerry co-CEO Mike Lazaridis scoffed at the original iPhone. He thought it was a toy. He derided its poor battery life and balked at the idea that anyone would want to type on glass when BlackBerrys offered full QWERTY keyboards.
The original iPhone may not be impressive by today's standards, but there's no denying that it forever altered the smartphone paradigm. It offered a big screen, a capable browser, and the best music/video experiences available from a mobile device, something that BlackBerrys (and most other smartphones at the time) did not.
As the saying goes, BlackBerry didn't adapt -- at least, not fast enough -- to the changes in the market. Classic Darwinism in action. (Nokia is guilty of this too.)
[ What's next for BlackBerry? Read Will BlackBerry 's Future Be A Piecemeal Sale? ]
2. It wasted resources on the PlayBook.
The BlackBerry PlayBook tablet is one of the biggest tech industry failures in in recent memory. The company introduced the tablet during the fall of 2010 (following the debut of the original Apple iPad tablet earlier that year), and brought the PlayBook to market in April 2011.
BlackBerry's leadership probably thought it was responding to the Apple iPad is a timely manner, getting a competitive product to market as quickly as it could. It did this at the expense of its smartphones. BlackBerry pulled resources away from its smartphone development teams in the months leading up to the PlayBook's debut. Instead, it should have skipped the tablet altogether and focused on its core smartphone business, which was already in trouble. (Handset sales are historically responsible for 80% of BlackBerry's revenue.)
The one thing BlackBerry did right with the PlayBook was to base the operating system on QNX, which it had purchased earlier. QNX and PlayBook OS eventually led to the foundation of today's BlackBerry 10 operating system. If BlackBerry had only skipped the PlayBook and begun work on BlackBerry 10 right away, it might have had a better chance.
3. BlackBerry didn't fire Lazaridis and Balsillie soon enough.
BlackBerry's former CEOs, Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, are far more responsible for the company's position today than is current CEO Thorsten Heins. Lazaridis and Balsillie were bullheaded and unwilling to change with the market. They ignored competitive threats from Apple and Google, they frittered away time and money pursuing the PlayBook, and by the time they realized their mistakes it was too late.
BlackBerry's board of directors should have recognized this sooner and done something about it. It was obvious to everyone else that Lazaridis and Balsillie didn't know how to handle the changing market.
Why did the board not see it? Had BlackBerry's board noticed the writing on the wall 12 months earlier, the company might be in a much better place right now. Was the board scared of what would happen if it fired the two founders of the company?
Lazaridis and Balsille stepped down from their co-CEO roles in December 2011, ceding control to Heins, who officially became CEO in January 2012. Heins hit the ground running, but BlackBerry was already too far behind to catch up.4. It http://mobile.informationweek.com/80269/show/6625c5e721e9bcbc22fcbdc266c656b0/?

Blackberry,sorry o.

Nomski0: Blackberry is really been bullied out of the market. Whats next for the falling company?

BBM

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Isn't blackberry a fruit

what is blackberry? initially i thought it was ice scream... i never knew it was this

What is blackberry and I-phone when I have Samsung galaxy S-4? You guys are still in yesterday when I and Usain Bolt are in 2014 with the new mobile experience......learners...!!!

6.no apps

On top that them still won release BBM for andriod 4 and Iphone ahhhhh them go kon fall totally.hehehe

And d final nail on d coffins of blackberry is launching of bbm for other platforms. I really won't b surprised if Samsung buys into blackberry. They sure are innovative enof to try to bring bb back to life...

Blackberry Fvck up big time,when they would have use the BBM as 'yanga',they come carry am dash Android,abi them wan compete with whatsapp?when there Mate they compete with other Smartphones.

Very soon, blackberry will become history just like Nokia 3310

Mistake number 6: selling BBM to Android. What they don't get is that BBM is what really makes them stand out. Most youths (like me) are addicted to social networking hence they are dying for blackberry. They should have kept on using BBM as their key feature as we know their OS is crap. 7: not doing reasonable mid range phones: all their mid rage phones that cost above $200 lacked so many neccesities like no 5mp camera and secondary camera @least for curve 7, no 3g network for curve 6. Apple falls into this category too. They can never produce a cool 40k phone for me that can't afford a 100k phone. Now the demand for high end smarthphones has dwindled hence Apple's choice to introduce a mid range Iphone that will even sell above $300k. We know it won't be succesful as Samsung, LG and Sony has had their grounds in the market. LG optimus L7 11 Dual P715 (not sure about the name) sells for just 37k and it has all the neccesities like 3g, 8mp camera....same with Galaxy Grand Quattro and Galaxy Core. Sony Xperia series are giving value for money too. Apple and RIM should just REST IN kitten (RIP).

But like Seriously I don't think BB can die,there is BIS and other social and email stuf,the way Android suck,Swallow, and Lick Mb and no stable data plan, BB is still necessary,And don't forget most business men and 'office people' stil find the Gadget important...

What is blackberry?

u said 5 mistakes but i only saw 3!!!!

Blackberry is fast going back to being a fruit.
I never bought into its hype anyway

resurrectn: u said 5 mistakes but i only saw 3!!!!

No vex jare, na inspiration fail am. U fit add d ones wey "Red card" provide.

SamConquer: But like Seriously I don't think BB can die,there is BIS and other social and email stuf,the way Android suck,Swallow, and Lick Mb and no stable data plan, BB is still necessary,And don't forget most business men and 'office people' stil find the Gadget important...

boss, i get your point, but airtel BIS rocks on android, i also receive push e-mail, and how many businessmen use the blackberry nowadays when you can easily develop an enterprise app in the .apk format......

the BB is dead, buried, and decaying!!!!!

#BlackBurial=BB, i sure will attend her funeral *giggles*

Red_Card: Mistake number 6: selling BBM to Android. What they don't get is that BBM is what really makes them stand out. Most youths (like me) are addicted to social networking hence they are dying for blackberry. They should have kept on using BBM as their key feature as we know their OS is crap. 7: not doing reasonable mid range phones: all their mid rage phones that cost above $200 lacked so many neccesities like no 5mp camera and secondary camera @least for curve 7, no 3g network for curve 6. Apple falls into this category too. They can never produce a cool 40k phone for me that can't afford a 100k phone. Now the demand for high end smarthphones has dwindled hence Apple's choice to introduce a mid range Iphone that will even sell above $300k. We know it won't be succesful as Samsung, LG and Sony has had their grounds in the market. LG optimus L7 11 Dual P715 (not sure about the name) sells for just 37k and it has all the neccesities like 3g, 8mp camera....same with Galaxy Grand Quattro and Galaxy Core. Sony Xperia series are giving value for money too. Apple and RIM should just REST IN kitten (RIP).

So the Samsung Galaxy Grand I9080 played into my hands 2 days back and thankfully it's made me reform opinions as per my endless handset lust.

1) Being that i carry 2 phones in my pocket always any display size wider than 4.5 inches is a big no no!

2) I'm not spending money buying any handset with battery power lower than 2000mAh!

3) My usual benchmark still remains: Android, Dual Sim, 5mp+ camera

All roads thus leading to the LG Optimus L7 II Dual P715.

http://www.gsmarena.com/lg_optimus_l7_ii_dual_p715-5372.php

Presently goes for 37k at Slot. Nice!!!

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Apple is next if they don't do something about their high price and less innovation