Future Case

This article describes the precarious situation that the Canadian company Research in Motion (RIM) is in as they roll out their highly touted new smartphone, the BlackBerry 10. The article implies that corporate customers will be the only hope RIM has of salvation and describes some techniques they are employing to win back their lucrative base. While they certainly face an enormously uphill climb to regain market share, I believe that this roll out could save RIM if executed to perfection.

The environments that RIM operates within are highly competitive. As a result of component lifestyles, the line between work and personal lives is becoming more blurred each day. The demand for a device that can enhance all aspects of users' lives has skyrocketed. Buy your own device (BYOD) has been utilized by many employers as a result. Likely RIM will not be marketing to tweens or teens, but to Gen Y'ers who have established careers. Consumer income could potentially be an issue, but I believe that consumers have become used to having a handheld be a large capital expense. RIM's plan attempts to get away from this risk by catering mostly to large enterprises. The market is highly competitive, as two of the most innovative companies, Apple and Google, are direct competitors. Iphones and Androids have been the main drivers in RIM's decline.

RIM's competitive advantage is a network that is considered very secure, and therefore marketers will focus on security minded customers, like law firms, banks, and government. The new strategy they have employed is aimed at CIO's and involves free software upgrades and free training sessions to IT departments.

The fate of RIM depends on the introduction of the Blackberry 10 and its adoption in the corporate world. By largely ignoring the teen market that Iphone and Android dominate, they are able to more effectively spend on boosting enterprise sales and have a real shot at saving the BlackBerry brand.