Is the BlackBerry Torch 9800 enough to save RIM?

[3lionsbecks]

Personally I am excited to upgrade to the Torch from my almost 3 year old curve.

I love the idea of an iPhone but the problem is that no one around where I live has them (other than teenagers) and the most common form of wireless communication between my friends and with my family is Blackberry Messenger. iPhone would make me lose that ability to easily connect and I'd have to switch to text messages which isn't as good as BBM.

I personally feel that having an ipod touch and a Blackberry is the perfect solution for most adult people.

I couldn't imagine giving up my BB keyboard for emails and messaging....its just too good.

 

[KameronBriggs]

How long have iPhone killers been out? '07? The iPhone isn't dead yet...and won't be in the forseeable future. But I gotta say, blackberry has some awesome looking devices.

 

[Forumblue&gold]

The phone certainly has potential to save RIM at least in the enterprise, however not in the consumer market. The phone is simply not a consumer phone.

Does not have a consumer friendly App Store
Does not have a high resolution display
No front facing camera/No 720p recording

First three things that pop in my head when I think of phones people want.
You can find those 3 on both iPhone and Android devices and Blackberry just doesn't cut it for consumers.

Business professionals don't care about those features.

RIM will always have a market with their smart phones because the phones are marketed to business professionals.

 

[pujapuri]

I don't disagree. We use Linux at work and for our servers. So Linux and Android are great, just not iPhone great.

Off topic but Linux when you learn how to actually use it IMO is much better than the current options out there. Just wish more hardware manufacturers supported the drivers to the same quality as a windows or mac os.

 

[aforty]

Maybe it's enough to stop the bleeding but this isn't going to make anyone want to switch back to BlackBerry from iOS or Android.

 

[Mr Bigs]

May not be enough to save RIM in the long run but it will certainly draw out their demise...

Call me crazy, but I think Blackberries are popular with the younger crowd who still see iPhones as pretentious, expensive, and snobby/spoiled gadgets. It may be that the Blackberry is no cheaper to purchase, and they're just as expensive for the monthly data service, but the perception is still there.

Also provides a clear upgrade path business people too busy to learn an entirely new phone os - a pretty legitimate market.

Did you even think before you posted that ? You statement is backwards lol !!!!!

 

[Kiirk]

It didn't need saving, alot of people need keyboards and not touch screens, that makes them unique, and is aimed at businesses, rather than people in the age range of 15-25 who will use it for business.

Your asking the wrong people.

 

[Autopilot638]

The Torch will neither make nor break RIM.

They're doing fine but this phone is nothing special.

 

[Ryan1524]

Can anyone remind me when RIM needed to be saved? Last I checked, it was the phone of choice for business users.

This.

The disgustingly slow progress of tech adoption in the corporate world will ensure RIM's survival.

 

[J22--]

tbh its just another blackberry, it does seem to have some improvements but nothing major which will shake up the mobile phone industry

 

[samcraig]

Apparently it won't save RIM from silly threads and polls on MacRumors speculating the demise of a company that is rock solid and doesn't need or even want the same audience the iPhone has.

 

[h1r0ll3r]

Dear God, please stop the iPhone Killer threads.

BB and iPhone are two completely separate camps. Apple is a cutting edge tech company that needs the latest and greatest gadgets for THEIR clients. BB, not much so. They cater primarily to biz execs who don't necessarily care for front facing camera, 12 billion fart apps or hi res screens. Apples to oranges, black/white, Pepsi/Coke, you get the idea.

While in IP4 people's minds, yes, the specs/hardware on the Torch are abysmal so no tech junkie/fanboy/early adopter will want that for their main phone. But for those that don't necessarily care for those features, the Torch may be just what they need. Those who've grown accustomed to physical keyboards will find it hard to switch to an on screen keyboard. It's all a matter of preference and who you're asking. This forum, being ever so slightly biased (for the most part), will side with the IP4. BB tried to match iPhone technology with their Storm/Storm II and realized, hey, wen can't compete like this, it's not our style. Granted these two phones were quite successful fails. BB came back to the drawing board and made a phone for their clients which is what they know best.

Personally, never liked BB even when I had to use them for work. iPhone was more my thing than the BB was which is why I stuck with iPhone.

 

[TorontoLRT]

I thought it had a chance until I heard about the display. Blackberries will survive, if at all, as niche enterprise devices used by Fortune 500 executives. The iPhone is the phone of the future.

 

[ucfgrad93]

I think that RIM is going to go through a period of slow decline over the next few years. The big growth seems to be in Apple and Android. But, RIM does have a large following so I don't see anything happening to them in the immediate future.

 

[samcraig]

I thought it had a chance until I heard about the display. Blackberries will survive, if at all, as niche enterprise devices used by Fortune 500 executives. The iPhone is the phone of the future.

Of course blackberries will survive. And iPhone users should welcome that. You think that push email would be so important for other phones if Blackberry hadn't had it?

Competition is good. Having companies try and better their products while looking to the side and to the future is important. It's what pushes technology forward.

People want to act like the iPhone (as wonderful as it is) is groundbreaking. And in many respects it is. In many respects the iPhone is nothing more that what's been done before but in a nice(r) package. While they definitely innovate - a lot of their success comes from taking what's already been done and giving it their own spin.

 

[samcraig]

PS - people who post polls need to stop biasing the results as well.

Look at the options to choose from. Look at the actual question.

An unbiased poll might be "How do you think the new blackberry will affect RIM and it's marketshare" and then give a range of answers.

But I guess it's easier to slap on a biased question that's going to get thread hits and then provide options which are also biased.

Poll fail in my opinion

 

[asr10 user]

I hope it is. I have been a BB lover for 5 years and although I love my iPhone 4, ill always be rooting for Rim. They will be fine because they are finally at least caught up with the last generation of phones, as long as their next generation phone is good enough to compete with the next generation iPhones and Droids, the should be fine.

They have clearly been getting their butts kicked but are moving in the proper direction.

 

[Applejuiced]

That was a poor attempt by RIM.
They're going down the drain.

 

[Savor]

RiM isn't going anywhere. They are not going down as bad as Motorola. Nokia's sales have been declining and are still very much in the game. It can be an up and down process.

Everybody can ascend, stabilize, and then a decline. Just like life. The GameCube was the not the demise of Nintendo. The poor early sales of the PSP and PlayStation 3 were not the demise of Sony.

As long as people love real QWERTY and secure push-email, it will never be gone.

Even rich celebrities want something simple. Something like a keyboard they can FEEL because of the tactile feedback. Maybe they don't care to have dirty hands with a fingerprint magnet, all-touchscreen phone or cover it up with saran wrap like Zagg just to avoid them. They don't care. They just want a phone on their carrier. They don't care what phone YOU own either. They are NOT gadget freaks who have time to look at the entire spec sheet they don't understand. They just want a phone they can communicate with. A RIM offers great availability with it in many carriers.

Celebrities with BlackBerry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-tNdmhkmEE


Why Are So Many More Celebrities Seen With BlackBerry Devices As Compared To iPhones?
http://www.rimarkable.com/why-are-s...ith-blackberry-devices-as-compared-to-iphones

Drake Loves His BlackBerry, Uses It To Write All His Raps
http://blackberryrocks.com/2010/06/23/drake-writes-raps-on-blackberry/