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Why the BlackBerry Thunder will fail
blogs.computerworld.com — The RIM Thunder will have none of the iPhone UI magic, but still suffer from a frustrating on-screen keyboard. I haven't checked the temperature in hell recently, but it seems unlikely that a huge number of users will want such a device. The BlackBerry Thunder will prove to be an embarrassing failure for RIM.
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- Fangsinmybeard, on 05/16/2008, -0/+3CNBC did a quick blurb about the new "Crack'berry, so I guess RIM must be desperate to retain their customer base. Interesting that this article is under Apple's category. What is the matter? Afraid of any competition?
- sjbdallas, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1Companies that fail to evolve eventually fail their customers and stockholders. All RIM is doing is increasing their marketing to consumers. They've managed to sell millions of their devices worldwide with relatively little advertising up until the past few years. They obviously seeing their growth starting to slow (no losing customers, just not adding them at the rates they were) so they're starting to do some radically different devices and target a different base.
All you Apple fanboys can point fingers and poke fun if you want the bottom line is that RIM (much like Apple) has a avid fanbase exchanging grainy spy photos, photoshopped mockups and scans of patent submittals. That core group will sustain RIM for years to come.
- sjbdallas, on 05/16/2008, -0/+1Companies that fail to evolve eventually fail their customers and stockholders. All RIM is doing is increasing their marketing to consumers. They've managed to sell millions of their devices worldwide with relatively little advertising up until the past few years. They obviously seeing their growth starting to slow (no losing customers, just not adding them at the rates they were) so they're starting to do some radically different devices and target a different base.
- agisten, on 05/16/2008, -1/+5Wonder where this guy got his "inspiration"... hmmm maybe from here : http://boredsysadm.blogspot.com/2008/05/why-htc-di ...
from 9 days ago ;-)- mm911, on 05/16/2008, -1/+1Umm, no.
- SPThom, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5I think it's useless to speculate about a phone that isn't out yet. Remember, a lot of people said the iPhone would fail (or at least underwhelm) before we had any specs about it, too.
Personally, though, I think it's a combination stop-loss and stop-gap measure for RIM. RIM risks losing a lot of business to iPhone purely out of hype. (Not to say there aren't great things about the iPhone, but there is a lot of pure, unsubstantiated "hype" to it too.) RIM is probably most concerned about keeping enterprise customers, whom Apple has been courting recently. Enterprise customers don't care about iPod functionality and don't care much about fancy UI controls for slideshows and videos. They want two things: mobile email (which RIM already does very well) and mobile web (which would certainly benefit from a touch screen and from an improved browser as is already demonstrated on the 9000/Bold). So if RIM can at least put on a show that they're matching or besting the iPhone in these categories, it ought to minimize or prevent a mass exodus of enterprise users... Certainly long enough to make it to a second-generation product which could give the iPhone a GOOD run for the money.
(And of course, by then, Google and Mozilla will be carving out their own territories in the mobile landscape too.)- agisten, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1I agree with you, RIM does enterprise email and wireless sync incredibly well, but it doesn't mean same situation will stay for long ....
another relevant. but a shameless plug : http://boredsysadm.blogspot.com/2008/05/at-to-add- ... - mikephimikephi, on 05/17/2008, -2/+1I'm sorry, but I don't recall 'a lot of people' saying 'the iphone would fail'
It was dubbed the Jesus Phone long before its release.- SPThom, on 05/18/2008, -0/+1It was dubbed the Jesus Phone after the specs were released. Before it was released a lot of people speculated that Apple would have problems penetrating the market.
- agisten, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1I agree with you, RIM does enterprise email and wireless sync incredibly well, but it doesn't mean same situation will stay for long ....
- rocr69, on 05/17/2008, -1/+1Call it the Blackberry "Chunder"... right, Bluesy?
- carbog, on 05/17/2008, -0/+5So any phone that's not an iPhone is doomed? I don't buy it.
- Jambi, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1Nope, I think the point is that any phone that tries to imitate the iPhone without realizing that what really makes the iPhone good is the UI is doomed to fail. Actually the linked article mentions a much likelier iPhone competitor in its first paragraph: the Blackberry Bold 9000. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?com ...
- alukima, on 05/17/2008, -0/+3This is B.S. As someone who has worked in a mobile phone shop for a long time I can promise you Blackberry has a very strong customer base. For years ( and this still may be the case) blackberries were the only PDA federal employees could carry into any type of secure location, so old men love them. Also, RIM, has contracts with just about every major company that has ever existed.
I personally love the iPhone.
But speaking from personal experience these two items have very different customer bases, I think they are more in competition with other brands of phones over each other. - gwinerreniwg, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1I recently had to buy a mobile device due to a change in employment. Knowing I really wanted a 3G iPhone, I picked up a used Blackberry 8800 to "hold me over" until the new 3G iPhone drops. I must say, I am extremely impressed with this device. Although it's not as elegant and smooth as the iPhone, the Blackberry has a huge suite of excellent applications, exceptional compatibility, open development platform with no hAxx0Ring required, and works exceptionally well (though the keyboard could be a easier to type on). When I started down this path, I NEVER would have considered a Blackberry over an iPhone. After having used one for about a month, I think I will have a harder choice than I expected between the 3G iPhone and the new 3G Blackberry Bold.
- acmethunder, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1The Blackberry Thunder will not be an iPhone killer, but neither will it fail. There people who refuse to get an iPhone, and there are others who use a Crackberry for whatever reason, and are perfectly happy with it. It will do reasonably well.
Buried. - julianwan, on 05/17/2008, -0/+1I'm just happy there are two decently competitive phones coming to the market, the thunder vs. the 3g iphone will maybe be an epic fight, but the fact that both products help to push the envelope of the US cell phone market excites me. Sometimes capitalism CAN force progress....
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