1. USER INTERFACE - RIM always sought, but never reached the intuitive user interface iOS managed, from round one. This is the cost of being an innovator in the digital mobility age, just look at how much time, effort, and cash Nokia dumped into Symbian before killing it altogether.
2. BES SECURITY - Designed for a robust & compelling mobile platform for Enterprise IT, this is one of those qualities most folks use as an answer to the "what is your biggest area of opportunity?", their largest strength and standalone compelling industry statement is their BES secret soup recipe. HOWEVER - worth noting, remember the trouble this caused them recently from governmental agencies in EMEA?
3. BLACKBERRY APP WORLD - RIM needed this to take off, like a ROCKET, whereas the marketplace sort of shrugged, and kicked a pebble down the street mumbling to themselves. SOLUTION = Developers! RIM can still turn this around, (especially with what we're going to discuss next re: PlayBook) take a bite out of Apple's developer mindshare! Offer a 85/15 split, then add additional total sales threshold bonuses, run an integrated social media campaign to boost awareness, and subsidize initial purchases through BlackBerry App World, "Deals of the Day" or other branding. It's not hard to engage a technologically-connected audience, especially if you already have their BBM - just sayin'.
Here's what a little research came up with as a brief (&incomplete) timeline of RIM events:
April 09, 2010 - http://bit.ly/bmsqWU RIM buys QNX
-RIM's acquisition of QNX allowed them to dig deeper into the neutrino platform, both acquiring a new services delivery channel, direct into enterprise IT, and a new base to build and roll out a brand-new user experience.
May 3, 2011 - http://cnet.co/jG0Cuk RIM & M$
-About a year after RIM's acquisition of QNX, at BlackBerry World conference, Steve Ballmer announced BING integration at the OS level. This despite the fact they are direct competition in the mobile marketplace, combined with the M$/Nokia partnership (CNet again here: http://cnet.co/dXrin6 ), makes me wonder if the Titans have decided to close ranks and strategize together on how to reclaim some marketshare out of an increasingly competitive landscape.
~Now, we discuss where I think RIM can make a serious "play" to get marketshare back. Courtesy ZDNet : http://zd.net/hZUocH PlayBook will provide Android support! This is an awesome idea, and opens up a host of opportunities for RIM. I would dearly love to get my hands on some of their latest gear to test personally, but alas, I've got other financial commitments on the go. (FYI, renovations SUCK.)
RIM can completely bounce back - but they need to differentiate their PlayBook from the slew of it's competition, and BB handset integration is not going to sell new customers, or entire old customers to return. RIM needs a killer app, Angry Birds is AWESOME, but they need an exclusive idea, hopefully tied into their hardware / OS ecosystem to ensure it remains an exclusive title for their platform. GAME ON.
So RIM, if you're out there in the 1's and 0's listening, I'm happy to offer my services as a tech consultant (or even a reviewer!), just be prepared to get a brutally honest opinion back, I am rooting for ya!
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