New BlackBerry smartphones to be release
Technologists currently have a bad taste in their mouth about the poor sales of RIM BlackBerry’s tablet, PlayBook which some had projected would destroy the company, but at a shareholder’s meeting, the company admitted that retail sales of the PlayBook, their first “retail” product to hit shelves, was not handled well. They confess that because it was their first, they did not have the full force of the carriers behind the product.
Perhaps their honest approach to the sales problem will keep the company in line and investors appeased? What is more likely to appease and improve investor morale is RIM’s announcement that they would release seven new models this year, keeping CrackBerry fanatics pleased with the modernity of their options.
The next lines
They did announce a 4G PlayBook to be released this fall which could do better with more carriers backing it this time around. The seven smartphones announced that the next BlackBerry line will include the Bold 9900, 9860 and 9850, and IntoMobile.com speculates the coming of the Torch 9810 and the Curve 9360. The seven phones will be released in “rapid succession,” according to RIM co-CEO Jim Balsillie.
Long term strategy
Balsillie acknowledged to investors that the company is “not perfect” right now but because investments have allowed them to dive so deeply into development, their future appears to be positive. He said RIM never has and never will sell out their long-term goals for short-term gains which is perhaps why they’ve survived thus far in a cut throat sector.
The projected layoffs at RIM were discussed with full details being released with their Q2 reports coming out soon. RIM does note, however, that staff to be laid off will not be in the development of future products and the current executive staff will remain which investors agree with.
“I’ll do it.”
Balsillie’s last line to investors was powerful. “If there’s anything I can do to make you sleep better at night, I’ll do it.”
Roland Estrada
July 13, 2011 at 4:41 pm
Unfortunately, Balsillie won't be able make Apple disappear. I owned a BlackBerry before I bought an iPhone in 2007. The UI was and is, maddening. It's like having to tab around in an old DOS based program just to accomplish the most basic of tasks.
BlackBerry's next generation OS might be able to salvage some of it's market share back from Apple and Android. However, the hardware will have to be sleek and fast. The OS will have to be almost flawless right out of the gate.
Gary Little
July 13, 2011 at 5:22 pm
Can RIM really afford to fragment its own market by coming out with 7 phones in "rapid succession"? More is not necessarily better.
Bassist
July 14, 2011 at 3:30 pm
I've always been a fan and loyal user of the Berries, but they lost a lot of ground to Apple and Android phones. They need to come up with something that is not there yet, not some phone to compete at the same level. And worse of all, the best phone will, like the Torch, go to AT&T. Take note, RIM: come up with a killer phone which can be modified to work with all the carriers and watch a turnaround. Or come up with a killer phone that only AT&T will carry…and keep going down.