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When Thorsten Heins, who took over as Research In Motion’s Chief Executive less than a year ago, steps out on Wednesday to unveil the new BlackBerry operating system, he would be hoping that the new platform signals the beginning of a comeback for the company. The new operating system — BlackBerry 10 — is not only an attempt by RIM to counter the smartphone market leaders Samsung and Apple but perhaps the last throw of dice in its fight for survival.
RIM’s share of the global smartphone market has fallen from a peak of roughly 20 per cent in 2009 to about 6 per cent today.
Jan Dawson, chief telecoms analyst at Ovum, believes that the new software platform will provide a temporary performance boost, but no salvation for RIM.
Twin worries
“RIM continues to face the twin demons of consumer-driven buying power and a chronic inability to appeal to mature market consumers.
“There is nothing in what we’ve seen so far of BB10 that suggests it will conquer the second of these demons, and the first is utterly out of RIM’s control,” Dawson said. RIM’s launch comes even as Google’s operating system Android and Apple smartphones captured a whopping 92 per cent of global sales in the fourth quarter, giving the two systems an effective duopoly, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.
Android grabbed 70 per cent of the market in the final three months of the year, while Apple’s iOS used on its iPhone held 22 per cent. Market watchers said that the new RIM platform may appeal only to loyal BlackBerry users and may not help the handset maker dent the Android or iOS market share.
“This will be a first revival launch for RIM after two years, post BB 7 platform. It will definitely be a complex platform, but I would not know how many users will switch over to it from Android or iOS platforms as many users get used to certain platforms,” said Mansi Yadav, Senior Market Analyst -- Mobiles and Tablets, IDC said.
At its peak, RIM shipped 12-15 million devices per quarter, but whether it hits this number on a sustainable basis will be based on how the market responds once the BB10 launch filters through
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