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BlackBerry to cut 4,500 jobs, predicts 2nd quarter loss of $950M

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Re: BlackBerry to cut 4,500 jobs, predicts 2nd quarter loss of $950M

#61

Post by mitchty »

corresation wrote: post #53
mkr-hn wrote: post #38

Relevant Google Trends chart: https://www.google.com/trends/explore?q=google+android%2C+wi... Blackberry's slide starts around October 2011. News search is a little more flat, but that probably reflects the fact that tech journalists like to compare the rise of one thing to the fall of another. Google search reflects what people are looking for in general, so it covers people looking up information on the phone and O…

Why "Google Android" instead of just "Android" (or alternately you could, I suppose, go with "Apple iOS"), because the latter much more closely mirrors what has happened in the market. Unless personal assistant robots have taken off corresponding with Android, I don't think it's being polluted much.

There is also cisco ios, which would also feature heavily on the web I would imagine.

Re: BlackBerry to cut 4,500 jobs, predicts 2nd quarter loss of $950M

#62

Post by mkr-hn »

mitchty wrote: post #61
corresation wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why "Google Android" instead of just "Android" (or alternately you could, I suppose, go with "Apple iOS"), because the latter much more closely mirrors what has happened in the market. Unless personal assistant robots have taken off corresponding with Android, I don't think it's being polluted much.

There is also cisco ios, which would also feature heavily on the web I would imagine.

I doubt enough people are searching for information on an enterprise networking operating system to overwhelm the volume of people searching for information on a major consumer mobile operating system.

Re: BlackBerry to cut 4,500 jobs, predicts 2nd quarter loss of $950M

#63

Post by dev_jim »

spodek wrote: post #2

The timeless story of Ozymandias -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymandias -- (if you don't know the 1818 sonnet by Shelley, read it before downvoting. It's relevant and timeless) I met a traveller from an antique land Who said: "Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand, Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command Tell that its sc…

Jeez man, Breaking Bad was just last week. Show a little originality in your postings.

Re: BlackBerry to cut 4,500 jobs, predicts 2nd quarter loss of $950M

#64

Post by icefox »

w1ntermute wrote: post #51
martythemaniak wrote: post #35

I've been thinking about RIM lately and I think they basically had chances to turn themselves around, but took neither. The first was in '08/'09 - shortly after the iPhone. Some companies (Google, Samsung) saw where the industry was going, made the appropriate decisions and are now profiting handsomely. In hindsight, that was the right time for RIM to acquire QNX and start on BB10, which might have done very well had…

They should've moved to Android by 2011, when it was obvious that it was going to become dominant. If they'd built touchscreen phones with slide-out keyboards (like the Motorola Droid) and built an Android-based OS that also included their proprietary messaging and email solutions, I imagine they would be quite successful now.

Not sure if you are tolling, but to move to Android by 2011 they would have had to start in 2010 or 2009. The first Android release was September 23, 2008 and you remember how ummm "good" it was right? And on so many devices too and "obvious" that it was going to become dominant. So they could either keep printing money with their existing OS they own and know or migrate to an unknown and new operating system made by some other company with unknown problems...

Re: BlackBerry to cut 4,500 jobs, predicts 2nd quarter loss of $950M

#66

Post by hnriot »

gummify wrote: post #19
mrcharles wrote: post #4

Was digging up some numbers. In 2010, BlackBerry still sold more phones than Apple. How the mighty have fallen.

What were the real problems then that led to their fall? Lack of technology innovation? badly run company and operations? lost touch with the consumer? All of the above?

that's easy, they just didn't come out with a new model. I waited and waited and then iphone 5 came out so I gave up on RIM and switched. I dislike the iPhone, but it's better than my old curve, mostly. Now I'm locked and can't go back to Blackberry without a financial penalty. I suspect there are a lot of people in the similar position. Even if we wanted to support RIM we can't.

Re: BlackBerry to cut 4,500 jobs, predicts 2nd quarter loss of $950M

#68

Post by levosmetalo »

ChuckMcM wrote: post #57
Touche wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

nit, but Ballmer did not dismiss the iPhone, he dismissed the $500 on contract iPhone. And he even said "it may sell very well". Here's the actual video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eywi0h_Y5_U I know it's become fun to pretend like Ballmer dismissed the iPhone but I have a hard time watching that video and seeing anything like that.

That is a fair point. Microsoft's behavior however, with regard to "supporting" the iPhone as a new way to do business, was tepid at best.

Why would Microsoft have to "support" the iPhone way back then? I'm pretty sure they would have supported it if they had ready iPhone competitor back in the days, but given that they didn't have it, the only logical thing to do about it is to ignore it and silently working on catch up, which is exactly what they did.

Re: BlackBerry to cut 4,500 jobs, predicts 2nd quarter loss of $950M

#69

Post by rogerbinns »

martythemaniak wrote: post #35

I've been thinking about RIM lately and I think they basically had chances to turn themselves around, but took neither. The first was in '08/'09 - shortly after the iPhone. Some companies (Google, Samsung) saw where the industry was going, made the appropriate decisions and are now profiting handsomely. In hindsight, that was the right time for RIM to acquire QNX and start on BB10, which might have done very well had…

They lost me for two reasons. The first was updates and bug fixes. For example on my BB pausing the music player resulted in the battery being drained flat in less than an hour. They fixed that but of course the update never made it my phone and carrier. Add in 5 minute boot times, and randomly finding it locked up and needing a physical reset. Or the survey on a website about what your favourite app was to daily reboot your phone!

The second reason was them not standing behind their hardware. The warranty was a year. The bluetooth module failed after one year and 3 months, and it turns out this happened to a large number of people with that model. Tough luck.

There is so much choice these days, that narrowing down is done by using any reason. That is why I wouldn't touch another BB and as a recommender to my friends they don't either. This kind of thing can be fixed, but it requires a long track record of redemption. (HTC is also on the do not touch list due to a lack of sustained redemption.)

Re: BlackBerry to cut 4,500 jobs, predicts 2nd quarter loss of $950M

#70

Post by rodedwards »

gummify wrote: post #19
mrcharles wrote: post #4

Was digging up some numbers. In 2010, BlackBerry still sold more phones than Apple. How the mighty have fallen.

What were the real problems then that led to their fall? Lack of technology innovation? badly run company and operations? lost touch with the consumer? All of the above?

Ballsillie and Lazaridis were the problem. They just sat on their cash cow and milked it. They also apparently didn't have a knack for selecting great managment. I remember in 2010 trying to figure out why BB sold the Curve, Tour, and Bold.
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