Running head: BLACKBERRY AND THE SMARTPHONE WAR.

BLACKBERRY AND THE SMARTPHONE WAR

STUDENT’S NAME

INSTITUTION
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Introduction

Nothing succeeds as success. This piece of common wisdom has been around for quite a

while. However, like most pieces of common wisdom, it usually has another equally pithy

statement that negates it. Consider the folk wisdom that the bigger they are the harder they fall.

As giants rise, they are subject to the same laws and principles as the rest of us, but due to their

large size the magnitude of causes and their effect as they apply to them are greatly magnified. In

the technological arena, fights between giants manifests in the battle of supremacy for market

share. Like the ancient roman gladiators facing off in a death duel to the cheers of a bloodthirsty

public, technology giants are unforgiving in their competitive and aggressive actions against each

other. If technology were an ocean, a few gigantic killer whales and schools of smaller fish

would populate it. The whales would role supreme while the smaller fish had to settle for

‘plankton’, the smaller deals that were insignificant to the whales. The technological industry

possesses several unique elements. First, it requires a large capital base to begin operations. This

makes it easier for large companies to dominate the industry. Economies of scale also tip the

scale in the favor of large tech companies. (Cromar, S 2010) More often than not, most

technology industry battles center on consumer pricing. Relatively short product development

cycles coupled with a high imitation rate means that even the most dominant players are not safe

from unexpected competition. This is evident in the rise and fall of the blackberry device.

(Sweeny, A,2009)

Wireless connectivity and communication devices are one of the fastest growing areas in

the technological ocean. (Cromar, S 2010) The Smartphone is the most iconic device of this age,

combining all the hardware, software, technological, social, and cultural aspects that have

emerged in the few decades since the Second World War. Computing power, music, advanced
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communication capabilities, and a myriad of features makes the Smartphone a necessity for most

urban dwellers in 21st century society. However, below the attractive aesthetics and raw

engineering prowess of smart phones lurks a very competitive corporate environment dominated

by the likes of apple, Microsoft/Nokia, HTC, Samsung and LG. These corporate entities eye a

dominant share of the Smartphone market, which was valued at over $500 billion in 2012.

(Campbell, R .2012) One of the casualties of the vicious war for market share in the wireless

connectivity and communication devices is a device that a few years back was synonymous with

secure communication and internet connectivity: Blackberry.

Blackberry battles apple’s Iphone

Blackberry devices are part of the product line for a Canadian company known as Blackberry

limited. The company began its life as Research in motion and was founded by in 1984 by an

engineering student from the University of Waterloo, Mike lazardis, together with a fellow

engineering student from the University of Windsor named Douglas Fregin.( Blackberry (RIM)

Case Study. 2012). The two combined their engineering expertise to tackle various problems, but

their major breakthrough came about when they were able to develop The blackberry. In essence,

device could securely and easily access and respond to email while on the move. (Sweeny, A

2009). The idea, which was novel at the time proved so appealing to the corporate world that

soon corporate heads, government officials and even drug dealers were using the devices to

transact their business. (Sweeny, A 2009; Gillete, F Brady D & Winter, C 2013).Mike lazardis

and his co-CEO Jim Balsille focused on four main areas that differentiated the blackberry from

every other wireless device on the market. These were a big battery capacity, low network

overheads, enhanced encryption and security services and the ability to type using a QWERTY

keyboard (Mcnish, silcoff 2015). These features were highly valued by corporate leaders, leading
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to the phenomenon success of the company. When success came knocking on the door of the

Canadian company, it found the owners unprepared. The blackberry phenomenon was associated

with success and social status. Only the rich, mighty and important had blackberry phones.

(Mcnish,J& Silcoff S ,2015 )More often than not, the users of the intuitive communication

device found it so addictive that some users compared it to crack cocaine. Blackberry was now

Crackberry. One executive went so far as to call it digital heroin. (Gillete, F Brady D & Winter,

C 2013)The company, which had a minimal marketing budget experienced such success that they

were unable to effectively capitalize on their popular success until it was too late. One of the

first signs that the company was ripe for a major fall is when employees began to have a smug

attitude towards their position at the top of the wireless communication device market. For

instance, Andrew lysyks who was a project coordinator with Research in motion from 2007 to

2010 states that the mindset of a majority of employees at the time centered on the fact that they

were number one. They felt that they were “killing it.” (Gillete, F Brady D & Winter, C

2013)Top management did little to discourage the attitude, and if anything failed in its mandate

of keeping the company innovative. This is ironic considering that it innovation had gotten the

company to its position of dominance. One software developer by the name of Gary Mousseau

states that when he first joined the company in 1991 as employee number eight, there was hardly

any room for him. By the time the Blackberry device started to experience its phenomenal

success, there was a shift in the company focus from innovation to just perfecting the already

existing devices (Gillete, F Brady D & Winter, C 2013)

The key selling point for blackberry devices was its secure communication and email

features. In this regard, it catered primarily to the corporate world. Using the analogy of killer

whales in an ocean, once other technology giants realized the potential benefits of feature- rich
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handheld computing devices, the battle for the Smartphone market was on. The first tech giant to

wage battle in blackberry’s turf was apple’s iphone. Their approach was to appeal to general

consumers, sidestepping the enormous advantages unique to the blackberry device. For instance,

instead on focusing on emails and secure communication the apple iphone majored on everyday

use in the form of music and video players.(Mcnish,J& Silcoff S ,2015) Instead of catering to

corporate clients the iphone targeted the masses. It achieved this with its appealing aesthetics.

Although the blackberry had a long battery life, the iphone focused on reducing the cost of their

product so that a lot more people could afford it. (Mcnish,J& Silcoff S ,2015)The top

management of Research in motion had not anticipated such a rapid change in market dynamics.

They responded to the change by introducing the blackberry storm. However, the move was a

case of too little too late. The blackberry storm could not compete with the iphone, and the

blackberry’s dominance of the Smartphone market began to erode.(Sweeny, A,2009) Blackberry

had to deal with some legal issues apart from market competition. One such legal battle was that

of patent infringement filed by NTP patent holding company. Although the two parties reached a

settlement in 2006, the case shows the vulnerabilities that successful companies may face if they

are not adequately prepared to change and adapt to the times. (Weston, D & Kwanghui L 2008).

The spectacular rise and the meteoric rise of the Blackberry Smartphone is an example of

how the technology industry is competitive. The emergence of a competitor in the form of

apple’s Iphone device changed the dynamics of the Smartphone market, and the Research in

motion company was unable to respond adequately, spelling the end of its market dominance.

One of the key weaknesses in The Company’s approach to business was to disregard its

innovativeness and to assume that its status quo was the permanent order of things. Competition

is the nature of the tech industry, and all players should always work at remaining relevant.
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References

Gillete, F Brady D & Winter, C (2013). The rise and fall of blackberry: an oral history.

Businesweek. Retrieved from www.blomberg.com/bw/articles/2013-12-05/the-rise-and

-fall-of-blackberry-an-oral-history.

Sweeny, A(2009) blackberry planet. Mississauga, Ont. : John Wiley &Sons Canada

Blackberry (RIM) Case Study. (2012). Place of publication not identified: Datamonitor PLC.

Campbell, R (2012). Are you prepared to migrate away from blackberry? The evolution of

corporate mobility. Retrieved from http://advocateinsiders.com/wp-

content/uploads/2014/01/Advocate-Consulting-Blackberry-Migration-White-Paper.pdf

Mcnish,J& Silcoff S (2015). The inside story of how the iphone crippled blackberry. Web.

Retrieved from http://www.wsj.com/articles/behind-the-rise-and-fall-of-blackberry-

1432311912

Weston, D & Kwanghui L (2008). Blackberry: a teaching case for WIPO. Intellectual property

research institute of australia. Melbourne, australia.