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Research In Motion's (RIM) media-rich BlackBerry smartphones, such as the Pearl, Curve, Storm and Bold models, compete with Apple's iPhone for retail customers. RIM has pushed aggressively to diversify its user base beyond executives, lawyers, politicians and other professionals who use BlackBerrys to send wireless e-mail.
RIM opens software store for BlackBerry
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSTRE5300R920090401
Will this new store allow Blackberry to cut over to the broader consumer marketplace (the iPhone space)?
send: Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Wireless Consumer Marketplace
Labels: blackberry, marketplace, RIM, wireless
Posted by Scott at 8:56 AM
16 comments:
Although the iPhone holds a lot of the market share, I think Blackberry SmartPhones have definitely begun to shift to a broader consumer marketplace already. With the additional applications and entertainment, Blackberry might be able to redeem itself and have more consumers coming back. However, it is hard to predict the future. The iPhone is a tough competitor in this market and already has established itself as the "all in one" mobile device, music player, entertainment system, world wide web and e-mail shop. Furthermore, the internet connection on the iPhone is much faster than the one on Blackberry. The only other added advantage for having a blackberry is that you can get it in different models: touch screen, key pad and different sizes.
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Does anyone agree or disagree with the statement...
The internet connection on the iPhone is much faster than the one on Blackberry.
There is no doubt that Blackberry and RIM have looked beyond the consumer marketplace for the past number of years. I personally feel that they have diluted their brand by turning to consumers.
There is another interesting article here: http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/07/07/blackberry-vs-iphone.html
and here:
http://www.convinceme.net/coldebate/109/iPhone-vs-Blackberry.html
Wireless speeds i feel are predominantly determined by the network the device is attached too.
Overall i have never liked blackberry's but i would not ever want to own a iPhone either.
Why are they wasting their time competing in a market with such saturation? Get a new market, be original. business 101.
I think that this move should definitely help RIM attract more general consumers. I know plenty of people my age that really don't need a blackberry for it's business functionality but get it anyways simply b/c they can or b/c they want the 'cool' factor of owning one. The app store should just make it more attractive to people of my generation and general consumers as a whole.
Due to the older demographic market that uses BlackBerry devices, opening up this software store will seemingly help RIM attract new customers.As a BlackBerry user there are times when I am extremely jealous of the capabilities of the iPhone. However, for RIM to really compete head-to-head with Apple, they need to make a competitive device that is just as sleek and simple as the iPhone, while retaining amazing capabilities of the BlackBerry. This is one step in the right direction.
and Scott--yes, the BlackBerry web browers is MUCH slower than the one on the iPhone.
Blackberry’s latest move into offering an online software store is a positive step in an effort to generate a more solid presence in the consumer marketplace. Personally I don’t see this being a significant challenge to the iPhone market as the following that apple has developed is quite powerful. One key advantage that the iPhone has is that it has one user interface making it easier for application development. With this said I am personally still a Blackberry fan but in this new era of mobility I think that RIM needs to find a way to better address the user interface and phone capabilities. If they want to continue to grow and possibly take over the general consumer market RIM needs to stop improving upon its original design and focus on using the Storm as a starting point to meet the new demands of mobile devices.
I think that these new applications will definitely help RIM to become more attractive to the younger consumers, and reach outside of their typical demographic. I know that when I graduate I will need to get a phone that can access e-mail, access the web, get directions etc. These changes to the Blackberry make it more likely that I would consider the Blackberry as an option along with the iPhone when making a choice on what to get.
Listen, bottom line is the Blackberry in an inferior product to the iPhone. Now that RIM is opening up their little APP store for blackberry users, they will STILL be over shadowed by the new iPhone OS 3.0. The new OS will attract new smart phone adopters as well as more Blackberry users to convert. Mainly because many of the features such as MMS will be integrated into the new iPhone OS. The Blackberry can not compete with the iTunes/App store platform because the user base goes well beyond the phone and Blackberry needs to churn some seriously innovative products, services, and platforms such as iTunes.
So to answer your question, yes this will help them broaden their market space but iPhone will continue to grow at faster rates and take more blackberry customers over the next year.
Listen, bottom line is the Blackberry in an inferior product to the iPhone. Now that RIM is opening up their little APP store for blackberry users, they will STILL be over shadowed by the new iPhone OS 3.0. The new OS will attract new smart phone adopters as well as more Blackberry users to convert. Mainly because many of the features such as MMS will be integrated into the new iPhone OS. The Blackberry can not compete with the iTunes/App store platform because the user base goes well beyond the phone and Blackberry needs to churn some seriously innovative products, services, and platforms such as iTunes.
So to answer your question, yes this will help them broaden their market space but iPhone will continue to grow at faster rates and take more blackberry customers over the next year.
Yes i do think this will help RIM compete with iphone better, but it does not solve the problem that the iphone is a superior product, and I own a blackberry. I have the blackberry storm and am disapointed it the product, it freezes, jams and it not as fluid as the touch screen iphone. I think this was a move RIM had to make to compete with the iphone, but they should work on making a superior product so the iphone has to compete with them and not the other way around.
By Michael Boshnack
While the iPhone may have a broader user base, but they are only distributed through AT&T as far as I'm aware. Verizon is the largest carrier in the U.S., and therefore The Blackberry may or may not be a better software platform, but they have a huge customer base that they can take advantage of. This new store is an excellent way to do that, and the favorable terms for software providers will help RIM as well.
Going off ebhariton and Boshnack comments, if you look at the history of technology, the better technology does not always win(vhs, Microsoft..). i do believe that the app store will help them attract new customers and will crack into Apples strategy of using their users to promote/ advertise their products. It will def take move into the space, seeing that blackberry is carried by nearly every major wireless carrier therefore they have more available market space then iphone
Although the iPhone has established itself within the marketplace as the all in one, blackberry still holds a specific target market that is constantly expanding. When I graduate, I personally am getting out of the blackberry world and switching to an iPhone.
Fact is, BlackBerry has been in the mobile market so long that they should have had this store up and running about three/four years ago. I do not think that they are trying to gain new consumers but hold on to those they already have.
People who own BlackBerry smart phones are looking at iPhones and saying "Holy crap, look at everything I can do with an iPhone. I can go on Facebook WOW!" Little do they know there was a BlackBerry Facebook app before there was one for the iPhone. But the only people who know of BlackBerry applications are techy people who are willing to go out and find it from BlackBerry forums.
RIM is just trying to smooth over a mistake they made in the past by not having one. Although they will look like Apple, it is necessary for them to have it.
What I think would make them more powerful is if all of these apps were offered for free.
I think inevitably more competition will enter the general consumer ends of smart phone like HTC and now Blackberry with RIM. This new online store allows more purchases of consumer related products to the general market and given that Blackberry is still the business type of phone, this online store definitely opens some of the age spectrum to those who may not use it as a solely a business phone. I think RIM will inevitably design a phone that's more for the general consumer market but with the buying power of its target market from the adult age-group, it will only gain more market share in the consumer market given that it will have more consumer features available through the online store.
I think the store has been a much needed addition to the blackberry brand. Ive personally had a blackberry for two years and have been extremely satisfied. However I do feel like the iphone has a huge advantage because of the appstore. Its a nightmare to have to look for blackberry apps online and hopefully this will make it easier for developers to market their apps for blackberry devices. Hopefully one day the apps will be as cool as those on the iphone.
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