How many times can (or should) a company die and be revived for us to say we’ve had enough? The tech industry has given us examples of products or companies that take life-threatening blows when they hit the crest of a wave, but manage to stay afloat or resurface after a while in ostracism. They may be the least, but they exist. However, what of blackberry it is a true case study because it has broken all the schemes.
Is that BlackBerry has died again. And we are not talking about BlackBerry Limited, the Canadian company that we once knew as Research in Motion, but about its smartphones. In recent days, OnwardMobility, the company that had the rights to manufacture and launch BlackBerry mobiles, announced its closure; And so one more attempt to revive the brand that once dominated the smartphone market, but which fell out of favor more due to its own whims than lack of opportunities, went down the tube. And I wish it was the last.
Today there is no reason to keep trying to save something that has proven to be insurmountable, and if tomorrow there is another company that wants to succeed where TCL, BB Merah Putih and OnwardMobility have failed, it will simply be because they have not understood how the industry has evolved. .
Furthermore, it is clear that not even BlackBerry Limited wants to be associated with its old history as phone manufacturers. The OnwardMobility thing ends up being another full proof – as if more were needed – of how Canadians have decided to let go of the past and stop lamenting over lost glory. After all, under the leadership of John Chen they have found a space that has served as a very successful escape route: corporate cybersecurity and software services.
So, if you can be a leader in another industry, what is the point of continuing tied to the business where you have lost all the ground you knew how to have and in which nobody remembers you for your successes, but for your resounding failure. I think that, finally, the exRIM has understood it this way. It has taken time, but it is a step in the right direction.
A new attempt to revive the BlackBerry would be nothing more than a whim
If no one takes the baton from OnwardMobility, we can finally say that we have definitely gotten rid of the BlackBerry. I hope so. And I don’t say this in plan haterIf not the opposite.
For years, Research in Motion mobiles were the ideal pursued by many users around the world. They were elected by businessmen and the chief executives of the most important countries in the world. What better publicity than seeing Barack Obama with a BlackBerry in his hands, after all? But it wasn’t just a question of status.
BlackBerrys were synonymous with innovation and cutting-edge technology in a market that had stagnated in models flip and candy bar. And it wasn’t just about the form factor, the hardware specs, and the iconic keyboard; in software and services they also did their thing. The case of BlackBerry Messenger is, without a doubt, the most notorious. BBM was WhatsApp before WhatsApp, it’s that simple.
Meanwhile, when other manufacturers tried to challenge it with their own QWERTY keyboard smartphones, they seemed like cheap (and unsightly, in many cases) copies of what BlackBerry had to offer.
We all know that the turning point for BlackBerry and RIM was the introduction of the iPhone in 2007. The directors of the Canadian company made fun of the touch screen and were infatuated with not seeing where the market was evolving, for the simple fact that it They led comfortably. Android was the second alarm signal and the final thrust, because when they reacted it was already too late.
BlackBerry rose to the top on genuine merit, and sank on its own shortcomings. Thus, it no longer makes sense to try to revive your devices, and I hope it never happens again. A good show of respect for the brand, and the nostalgia it can still generate, will be to finally let the BlackBerry rest in peace.