The ‘game’ is not over for Blackberry; the stoic company patiently surveys the ever-changing playing field, planning how its vast army of assets can serve customers and destroy the competition.
Much discussion and speculation involved the Blackberry brand in recent months. Once the leader in handheld intelligent telephony, the products now face fierce competition from industry juggernauts like Apple and Samsung. While a nimble and fickle industry, like technology, cannot be accurately predicted, some have nearly closed the final doors on Blackberry, yet faithful followers and the Canadian brand’s executives have other hopes and plans in store.
What will Blackberry’s future be? No one knows for sure, but amid increased returns, exciting releases, and an admirable transparency, Blackberry seems to be dialing in on a return to greatness.
History Lesson
Blackberry executives and faithful consumers alike remind doubters of a history lesson. In a fast evolving and competitive technology market, Blackberry grew to become a very respectable name. Ten years ago, Research in Motion stock rested at a humble $15 a share. Fast-forward five years after, the stock grows more than tenfold, once making the Canadian company Fortune’s fastest-growing company in the US.
Apple Introduces Competition
In 2007, Apple introduced the world to its newest toy, the iPhone, capable of the same business means while bewitching users with apps and Apple-like entertainment-focused mystique. The crowds reacted favorably, and to date, iPhone iterations experience a healthy flow of ownership and revenue.
Besides Apple, the Android smartphones especially of Samsung, has also made life extremely difficult for BlackBerry devices.
Smart Phone Companies Get Smarter
As consumer and business gravitation toward smart phones and touch screens grew, Blackberry found itself in a pivotal position, joining the touch screen market with its Z10 product. Moreover, to date, Blackberry’s BBM video social software has attracted millions of iPhone and Android users ready to embrace its sharing and video functions.
Recently
Within the last few months, Blackberry stock continued to climb, reaching numbers exceeding $10 a share, more than doubling stock as compared to last fall. Doubters scoff at the rise, pointing to the stock’s one-time heights of $145 per share, but tech analysts don’t doubt the return of Blackberry. Contrarily, some believe the company’s dark ages are behind it, and the brand’s future is looking brighter.
The Z10
Blackberry’s introduction of the Z10 seeks to rival competitor iPhones. In-phone features and applications work seamlessly, so business and social tasks can be completed with simplicity and efficiency.
Key features include:
- The Hub feature, allowing a user to return to a ‘home’ screen regardless of open applications and immediate action
- A keyless keyboard, emulating the digital key style of popular smartphones
- BBM video function, allowing users to communicate via video and share pictures at the same time
- A camera with added ‘shift’ mode, which allows users to better edit shots, producing perfect pictures each time.
In addition to added functions and features, Blackberry World introduces scores of applications. Users may download and listen to music, read ebooks, play games, communicate with social platforms and more.
Canadian Community
Korea has rallied behind its native-born company, Samsung. Similarly, Canadians support Blackberry. Like Apple’s avid fan base, Canadians’ affinity for Blackberry is strong. Yet Canadians are not the only people (or comprising country) to offer accolades.
The US Department of Defense has used and salutes Blackberry devices. A representative, dismissing rumors that the DoD purchased high volumes of iPhone devices (to replace Blackberry devices), mentioned Blackberry’s future at the Department “was very much alive.”
Blackberry, initially branded as a government-used device, continues to market its newest devices to governments, businesses, and consumers.
Singapore Receives Blackberry updates
Blackberry recently announced news regarding its newest update, 10.2. It’s expected to embrace consumers within this month, yet a number of Singapore users have already reported its reception. Blackberry cannot provide a definitive date for rollouts since updates rely on a number of carrier factors regarding region and connection. The update is sized at 117 MB (size depends on an individual user’s plan), introducing a trove of new features influencing ease of function and use. A priority hub, instant preview and reply, lock-screen notification, native calendar apps, copy/paste buttons, Miracast, WiFi direct and more come along with newest update.
BBM
Blackberry’s BBM function, traditionally, acted much like an instant message service, a platform where users could text back and forth aside from other immediate functions. Blackberry, considering the advent of better video technology and consumers’ embrace of multimedia functions, adds the video element to BBM.
Talk face-to-face with friends, family members and business cohorts. Show photos on your browser, review business documents, and share your personal view with others. Company executives mention they already received more than 20 million register requests upto 30 th October from iPhone and Android users regarding BBM software.
Open Letter
Within recent months, rumors of Blackberry’s eventual ruin and sale to another company proliferated news sites and reader thoughts, so the executives thought it was a prime time to openly and publicly address its competitors, industry, and faithful consumers.
Blackberry recently published an ‘open letter’ to consumers, reassuring that despite rumors of decline, takeover, and loss, the company “is here to stay.” The letter goes on to remind readers of Blackberry’s previous and current successes, reassuring them of the company’s ownership of excellent products and services.
While heavy critics wait and see what the future holds, the letter has been favorably received; those who chronicle the tech space as well as consumers, champion its sentiments, due to its transparent and genuine sentiments to investors, consumers, and brand advocates.
Blackberry’s Future
While rumors loom, and will likely continue given the brand’s overall decline from five years ago, in-company executives continue to adopt a positive and patient outlook regarding its future. Consumers have proven to be fickle, yet governments and businesses appear more stable regarding commitment and impact of vendor revenue. Once upon a time, it only took a span of five years for Blackberry to grow it value tenfold. That’s remarkable; does the company still maintain such charisma? Some believe so.
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Author : Anthony White enjoys keeping up with the latest advancement in mobile technology. He also loves sharing his insights through blogging.
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