Mark Bridge writes:
It’s been an annus horribilis for Research In Motion. In fact, the BBC was already using that very phrase about the BlackBerry manufacturer two months ago.
The company’s BBM instant messenger service had been associated with UK rioters in August. Email and internet access had failed for many customers in October. Its BlackBerry PlayBook tablet hadn’t sold as well as expected.
Then there was its market share… its reorganisation and job cuts… the name of its new operating system… internal criticism… those security disagreements with foreign governments…
…and now a delay to its (renamed) OS until the tail end of 2012.
I started 2011 with optimism about the BlackBerry PlayBook - and noted that journalist Steve Litchfield had disagreed with me. I’m ending the year with Steve Litchfield’s predictions for 2012 ringing in my ears: “BlackBerry and Symbian; both in gradual decline, in their latter years… both platforms winding down in a sense…”
When I first heard Steve say this, I thought he was being a little harsh. Having also heard what RIM’s been saying about the last few months, I’m now not so sure.
For the sake of RIM, I hope we’re both wrong this time.
| You can listen to the full predictions podcast featuring Steve Litchfield, Hans Eriksson of Bambuser, Windsor Holden from Juniper Research, ipadio’s Mark Smith and Jack Wraith of TUFF on our website, via iTunes or by downloading the MP3 file. |