RIM - It’s the Software

RIM didn’t make a name for itself in amazing OS’s. Nor did they make a name for themselves in beautiful hardware. They don’t get huge praise for the aplication ecosystem, and they arent known for amazing integration with desktop OS’s.

The key to the BlackBerry has always been the ability to communicate quite effortlessly on a mobile device.

This isn’t exactly a recent phenomenon - BlackBerries never seemed to be futuristic or innovative beyond this system. It is absolutely great for email and integrates very well with corporate communications systems.

Now, though, BlackBerries are even more outmoded in the ways they always were, with the iPhone, and Android & Windows Phones now out there. In addition, WebOS has taken them on their own turf by bundling a BlackBerry-class communication platform with a first-class OS. Suddenly RIM is at quite a disadvantage.

Are they screwed? Maybe sooner or later. If RIM was smart, though, they would take stock of what they were good at and what they stink at, and reenter the market with a product based on those strengths, which are arguably:

• Email and messaging software integrated with their messaging services and corporate secutity policies.
• Simple, functional hardware that (until the Storm came around) worked quite well.

Then they should take the rest, and whatever they can’t possibly compete on, license somebody else’s stuff. The rest of their OS is crap for sure. I would suggest building their own Windows Phones or Android phones, with their own proprietary first-party applications for email and messaging. That’s the reason why people buy BlackBerries anyway, and RIM can charge a premium for that alone. They must be able to, otherwise nobody would be choosing their phones over everyone else’s as it stands now.

Certainly those two OS’s don’t have as good an email experience - this is easily an area where RIM can add value to their phones with a few apps and existing infrastructure, and charge through the nose for the privilege to have the BlackBerry messaging platform. Indeed, maybe RIM would be better off as a software company, just making phone apps for improved email experiences.

Of course, if they hadn’t screwed up the deal to buy Palm then they would have everything they would need. One thing is for sure, though: RIM, if you can’t write a good OS then why do you stubbornly use it anyway, when you can just buy OS licenses and still write the software that your customers actually care about when they buy a BlackBerry?