Things are not looking good for Canada’s (once-proud) high-flyer… In light of the news of a significant loss… the firm decided to re-focus their efforts on corporations versus their (at this point in time) failed consumer push…
Granted, corporations are their historical sweet spot; yet, as their sphere of influence within this realm has been eroded by their competition… they’ve also faced security issues (post the horrific Mumbai attacks) massive network outages (leaving countless users across America; the EU and other parts of the globe without their services on more than one publicly embarrassing occasion) as well as just an underwhelming product release cycle. Here’s the rub: all of these (and other factors / issues not mentioned herein) might pale in comparison to the lackluster attraction of application developers (who their rivals have capitalized on via the brilliance of crowd-sourcing).
The free-hand-of-the-market has clearly taken a toll on this firm (for further evidence just ask the folks at Nokia and/or Microsoft if one would be able to find an honest voice amongst those therein who have ‘drank the Kool-aid’ as the saying goes). In sum, RIM’s present station is certainly the worst of the ‘also-rans‘ who were once the industry leaders in the Smartphone space. A turnaround is always possible… as is the use of the word ‘if‘ which is never a certainty regarding: ‘if’ we X; ‘if’ the market does Y, etc.
(Source) Reuters: http://goo.gl/1PMnz