As BlackBerry underestimated iPhone and paid for it

In 2007, the BlackBerry underestimated the capabilities of smartphones iPhone, which led to the loss of the mobile device market. Canadian producer was convinced that business users, which focused on the company's products, not interested in the gadget without a keyboard. This is related by the author of "Losing signal", which tells the story of the rise and fall of the BlackBerry.

The day after the presentation of the iPhone the company BlackBerry, which was then called Research In Motion (RIM), organized an unscheduled meeting to discuss features of new items. Many doubted that Apple was able to create a mobile phone without a keyboard with a large touch screen, while capable of long time to work offline. The initial reaction of the company's iPhone turned distrust.

The BlackBerry did not see a threat in the smartphone Apple. Management decided that the fans of the brand will not pay attention to the machine is not equipped with a physical keyboard. They decided that the iPhone is suitable only for surfing the web and watching videos. Moreover, the device does not have special services for business users. In short, the company was confident that the new Apple fails to entice their members.

"The BlackBerry was considered that if the iPhone will become popular, it is only for users who are more interested in YouTube videos and surfing the web. Major customers appreciate quality and secure communications, "- said the former chief operating officer of the company.

The authors said that the main reason for the failure of the "pioneers" of the smartphone market - Motorola, Nokia, Palm, BlackBerry - is their attitude to these devices. The latter never believed that smartphones can be energy efficient. As a result, the Canadian company was late with the release of touch smartphones more than a year.

This model is called the BlackBerry Storm sources belated response to iPhone, the development of which began only after the emergence of the smartphone market Apple. Announcement BlackBerry Storm in November 2008, was accompanied by a big hype behind which stood not nothing.

What happened next is already known: the launch App Store, the emergence of thousands of business applications and secure services, and as a result, rapid loss of market BlackBerry. By April of this year, the share of smartphones Canadian producer was only 1.6% versus 42.6% for iOS.