BlackBerry, formerly known as Research In Motion (RIM), fell, partly because of the fault of its top management, perhaps even the biggest factor. They are sometimes too confident and so often wrong predictions.
In the past, RIM was led by two CEOs, namely Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie who were also the founders. Here are some of their statements that seemed arrogant in the face of intense competition and ended up being totally wrong, quoted by us from various sources, Monday (10/1/2022):
1. iPhone Is Not a Threat
"As good as any iPhone, it presents difficulties for users. Try typing on the iPhone's touch screen, that's a real difficulty," said Jim Balsillie when the iPhone was launched.
"It's ok, we will be fine," said Balsillie with full confidence, that BlackBerry will still be successful even though the Phone comes.
In fact, the iPhone is arguably the main actor behind BlackBerry's downfall, alongside Android phones. The intuitive touch screen, abundance of apps and trendy shapes make the iPhone even more desirable.
2. BBM Will Keep Flying
In 2013, BlackBerry decided that the BBM messaging service would be open to Android and iPhone users, having previously been exclusive to BlackBerry. Lazaridis also predicts that BBM will become the favorite service on both platforms.
"BBM is the most interesting wireless experience and social media service, much more interesting (than competitors-ed)," said Mike Lazaridis at the time.
In fact, BBM is even further left behind by WhatsApp and iMessage. Even in the end, BlackBerry turned off BBM some time ago because the demand was getting lower.
3. Physical Keyboard is Everything
A capable physical keyboard is one of the reasons the BlackBerry is selling well. Although in the future there is a touch screen keyboard, the BlackBerry boss still doesn't budge.
"Not everyone can type on pieces of glass. Every laptop and every other cell phone (besides the iPhone) has a physical keyboard. I think our design gives us an advantage," said Jim Balsillie when he saw the launch of the iPhone.
Time flies, BlackBerry is still relying on physical keyboards when the world is finally turning to virtual keyboards. Ballsilie's predictions were wrong, in the end everyone got used to using virtual keyboards.
4. Many Unimportant Apps
iPhone and Android are supported by an abundance of apps in their respective app stores. BlackBerry lost but initially, BlackBerry bosses didn't think it was a big deal.
"You don't need hundreds of thousands of apps to satisfy people. Most people only use a small number of apps on their devices," said Jim Balsillie once.
Ultimately, consumers prefer great app support because of the many options. One of the causes of BlackBerry's downfall was the sheer number of applications for its phones.
