$80 bil to $5bil... Painful (ouch!)

Source: Yahoo Finance

They pioneered the smartphone market. They made it ubiquitous. They nearly ruled it for a decade. They made people addicted to the phones. They sustained the barriers to entry for competitors for years... And as per ECON 101, barriers were supposed to be broken. Players were supposed to enter... They felt possible long-term threat. But they didn't innovate. They saw their market share shrinking slowly. But they didn't innovate. They saw continuous decline in market share and customer base. They thought about innovation. They considered their R&D lightly. They suffered. They launched something exceptional. And they realized it was too late. They, the pioneer of the booming smartphone market, started considering strategic alternatives yesterday. Who are they? They are Research in Motion, Waterloo, ON, Canada based company, who pioneered BlackBerry, aka Crackberry (This name has nothing to do with their demise, but it was given when BlackBerry was the only smartphone option).

When I was young, I always wanted to own BlackBerry. And that's why I had BlackBerry as my first smartphone in mid 2009. Since then, I have had BlackBerry only. Currently, I am using BlackBerry Z10, runs on BB's new OS, BB10. I neither own any BBRY stock nor sit on their Board. I just want to writ what I feel. These should be enough disclosures for any conflict of interests!

BB 10, is by far the best RIMM has developed. I will not use word "innovate", because it may attract some critics. Apple's iPhones and Google's Android devices have become so "generic" these days, which is the prime factor for BBRY's dwindling customer base. The way BB 10 works, consider fast & smooth, if it was launched 2 years ago, the results could have been different. Only, the only, problem it has, is lack of apps. They have lost developers' interests as well along with customers. Recently, they announced to offer BBM, their premier messaging service, to other platforms. I am not really sure how useful it can be. But one thing I am absolutely sure about is BB 10 is all they can offer. There is nothing beyond that.

I have no vision for their future. They may be out of the business in 2015 when I will be hunting for a new phone. There is a huge possibility that I will not be able to get BBRY phone in the market in 2015. But I strongly believe that I will have good solid time with current Z 10 I have until 2015.

From one corner of my heart, I thank Apple and Google for bringing smartphone market to this level in such a short span. And that is the premier reason why BlackBerry developed their best product. And I could get a chance to use that!