Editorials | BlackBerry Cool

EditorialsPage 2 of 36

RIM 2nd Quarter Fiscal 2010 Financial Results Overview

Posted

on September 24, 2009, at 7:02 pm

RIM’s 2nd quarter fiscal 2010 financial results conference call began at the close of the markets, at 5pm, Thursday, September 24th, 2009.

Before we begin a breakdown of RIM’s 2nd quarter fiscal 2010 financial results, there are a few BlackBerry Cool articles worth reading:

Rearch in Motion’s 1st Quarter Fiscal 2010 conference call

Lessons for App World – Keep your Market Open For Developers

App Store Numbers are Deceptive – Beware of Bulk Apps RIM

Improving the App World Experience

RIM vs Carriers – Balsillie and Lazaridis Strategies to Push App World

The reason these links are important is because RIM talked a lot about how BlackBerry is becoming “mainstream.” This is because RIM is seeing a tremendous growth in the consumer market. It’s not that the enterprise market is shrinking, but that the consumer market growth is so large, it is basically overwhelming the enterprise market.

As per usual, Jim Balsillie took the call and updated investors on the 2nd quarter for the fiscal year ending 2010. Revenue was very strong at 3.5 billion, up 37% from last year.

This quarter saw 2 new smartphones introduced to the market, the BlackBerry Tour 9630 and the BlackBerry Curve 8520. While the Tour was an important addition to the BlackBerry lineup, it was not the focal point of the conference call. The BlackBerry Curve 8520 was the center of attention during this quarter’s report.

Net subscribers for the 2nd quarter were at the lower end due to the nature of the devices released. The Tour in particular is an upgrade device and not necessarily a device that brings new subscribers. The 8520, on the other hand, is the ultimate device for bringing in new BlackBerry subscribers. The device appeals to consumers as well as international users, due to the low price point. BIS users have steadily increased, and RIM’s customer base is seeing over 80% come from non-enterprise subscribers.

This doesn’t mean that RIM has forgotten about enterprise users. Keep in mind that enterprise is what provides RIM with a competitive advantage and while consumer may become a larger share of revenue, enterprise is still crucial to the brand. The BlackBerry MVS system as well as some upcoming enterprise features will help stimulate a steady growth in enterprise users.

One of the more interesting discussion points surround this conference call was the focus on the international component of RIM’s business. About 1/3 of RIM’s new subscribers were located outside of North America. With 9.2 million devices expected to ship in the 3rd quarter, this will likely come from North America as these devices are in the higher end of the price and feature spectrum. On the other hand, this figure of 9.2 million will become significantly increased in future quarters when RIM launches more low end devices that appeal to an international market.

ASP, or average sale price, is another focus of RIM’s conference call. Many of the investors who called in with questions wanted to know more about this. RIM continues to lower the ASP while marketing campaigns and great partnerships with carriers further lowers the cost of owning a BlackBerry. Jim Balsillie hinted towards some upcoming “integrated marketing campaigns” which sounds interesting, but is too vague to comment on.

As previously mentioned, the Curve 8520 was the focal point of this conference call. The Curve 8520 for GSM networks is the first with the touchpad and is the first BlackBerry to offer the standard BlackBerry services at a pricing point that is more “international.” In Europe and Latin America, the 8520 has seen incredible sales because its pricing point makes it competitive in local markets. Latin America has seen double digit growth!

The 8520 exposes the new face of RIM which is an international company. More so than any other quarter or year, RIM is seeing sales of BlackBerry devices all over the world. Countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Venezuela and Mexico, are all purchasing the 8520, the affordable BlackBerry.

Not only is the 8520 exposing an international side of RIM, but it also brings to light the fact that RIM is becoming increasingly a consumer smartphone manufacturer. As the smarpthone industry progresses, we’re seeing the line blur between enterprise and consumer, and a device that has been traditionally meant for business users, is now a device for the average user.

Back to School promotions were very effective due to this shift. Back to School during this fiscal quarter have been the most successful yet. In France, 3 carriers had a special rate plan and a lower pricing point for the 8520, making it more attractive for a larger market. Students are a real opportunity within the consumer market, and RIM is reaping the rewards of this consumer/enterprise split.

We can all agree that a smartphone is nothing without a solid developer community. RIM knows this and has invested heavily in their developer community. It seems RIM believes web application development is the future of smartphone applications, and the developer community is being given tools and resources to help further this type of development. According to Jim, web application development brings together the best of Java and the best web development.

In terms of popular applications, social media is on top. BlackBerry users have downloaded over 20 million social network type applications including MySpace and Facebook. Second in line came radio applications such as Slacker and Pandora, which have seen over 7 million downloads.

The news about the Torch Mobile acquisition was minimal, and RIM only mentioned that the acquisition would be beneficial for developers and provide a platform that was on par with the market. Something that has not been mentioned, is that RIM has bought into the development of Webkit. By purchasing Torch Mobile, RIM now owns developers who are part of the core contributors to the open source technology that drives much of the smartphone web browsing technology. If they wanted to, RIM could leverage these contributors to insert code into the open source platform that was beneficial to the BlackBerry platform, but not necessarily to the other smarpthones. This is purely conjecture on the part of BlackBerryCool.com and was not part of the conference call.

We’ll bring you more on the questions posed after the RIM 2nd quarter fiscal 2010 conference call soon. Feel free to comment your thoughts and opinions about RIM’s situation in the 2nd quarter, and we’ll discuss.

Share:

Smartphone research comparing iPhone and BlackBerry often flawed

Posted

Kyle

on September 10, 2009, at 2:22 pm

in Editorials and News

10 Comments

The research behind iPhone and BlackBerry comparisons that is making its way into the mainstream media is almost always flawed. The media loves to talk about the prolific nature of the iPhone and how technologically advanced its users are, while almost implicitly ragging on BlackBerry.

A recent study claims that iPhone owners are much more likely to download apps and get involved with social networking than their BlackBerry-owning counterparts.

The study shows that about 72% of iPhone users are likely to have downloaded at least 10 third-party apps, but 73% of BlackBerry users have picked up five apps or less. The researchers add that iPhone owners are more willing to buy their apps than BlackBerry owners.

When it comes to downloading third party apps, this study failed to recognize that bulk apps, shouldn’t be recognized as multiple applications. They are essentially the same app, templated and replicated by changing a few small pieces of data. This is where RIM shines in that App World isn’t filled with the same amount of useless garbage.

With regards to social networking, the researchers found that roughly 71% of Apple users have a Facebook account versus 44% of BlackBerry users. Twitter follows a similar trend with 26% for iPhone versus 15% for BlackBerry.

Social networking discrepancies is a demographics issue, not a device issue as the research implies. While BlackBerry is moving its focus to the consumer market, it still has years of enterprise users behind it and this could be skewing the numbers. In the end, we all know that the BlackBerry is an incredibly powerful social networking tool. Whether or not the older BlackBerry demographic is using these services is another matter.

One element of the research that I find particularly flawed, is the research that says 83 percent of users prefer apps that cost below $5. This is a consistent mistake that researchers make. They think that just because you have asked someone what they want to pay for something, that that information is somehow valuable. The truth is that everyone wants to pay the minimum, and if possible, get it for free. The reality of the situation is that if your app is well designed and provides a tangible benefit to the user, the $5 benchmark is meaningless. Just look at TetherBerry, it’s a $50 application that is one of Mobihand’s best sellers.

Share:

More on Wired’s 5 things article from BlackBerry Cool readers

Posted

Kyle

on September 8, 2009, at 2:33 pm

in Editorials, Spotlight and Top-Story

5 Comments

Yesterday’s article had a great response from BlackBerry Cool readers, and it’s important to follow up with some points to consider. Special thanks goes out to Peter Werry from Multiplied Media for help with the article.

On RIM and the Consumer Space

It’s important to note that the consumer space is getting an incredible amount of internal focus at RIM. This is evidenced by the fact that RIM refer to themselves as “BlackBerry” rather than “RIM” at trade shows, they release numerous updates for App World, and they have expanded the BlackBerry Developer Conference to almost twice what it was last year. Last quarter alone, we saw RIM nearly double their total sales in the consumer space. All signs are pointing towards the consumer space being a key market for the smartphone industry and RIM isn’t about to ignore it.

On Security and the BlackBerry Browser

In everything they do, RIM never forgets that security and reliability are the key to a successful enterprise product. However, just because there needs to be a focus on those two features doesn’t necessarily mean the browser and other aspects of the device have to suffer.

RIM has made public comments about their intentions to improve the browser. TD recently released a speculative report on the subject as well. While security and reliability no doubt remain a key focus of the platform, RIM has made obvious moves towards improving their browser and making it more consumer focused. This is evidenced by their acquisition of Torch Mobile for their WebKit software. We could all agree that RIM’s browser tends to fall short in the consumer world, and we can be fairly confident they will be able to bring it to a level that will make them an industry leader in the mobile browser space once again.

On the Issue of WiFi and Pricing

In yesterday’s article, it was suggested that WiFi is left out as a feature on some devices in order to allow for price flexibility. The truth is that it can actually become more costly for RIM to create two versions of a device, one with and one without WiFi. This is because of the costs associated with developing for different hardware configurations, and the administrative costs of treating them as separate entities. The decisions to go with or without WiFi are mainly driven by the carrier. Generally, RIM is very constrained by carrier demands.

On the Topic of App World

A few BlackBerry Cool readers have been very adamant that App World has essentially been a development disaster. The theory is that management got freaked out that they were missing some huge opportunities for growth and they pushed the application to release before it was ready. RIM has done a good job of upgrading App World to fix the bugs, but much of this should have been happening before launch.

The question for the future is: will RIM step up its game as it has been doing so far to meet the consumer market demands?

RIM may have to essentially re-write most of their key components, and expose much more of the device capabilities to 3rd party developers. Eventually, it’s all going to come down to which device has the best apps, the best network, and the best device capabilities. Look to the first quarter of next year to see if RIM will continue to lead.

Share:

Wired article: 5 things RIM needs to fix is a little off base

Posted

Kyle

on September 3, 2009, at 10:41 am

in Editorials

9 Comments

Wired recently published an article entitled “5 Things RIM Needs to Fix in its BlackBerries[sic].” The article is a great read, but I’d like to address a few issues with what Wired thinks RIM needs to improve.

The article goes on to highlight the following 5 areas where RIM needs to improve:

Browser
Touchscreen
App Store
WiFi
Desktop Software

Overall, I’m going to wholeheartedly agree with the list. RIM can always be improving every aspect of the BlackBerry platform and the company has plans that extend well beyond our current gripes.

Generally, the article missed out on explaining how RIM came to lack the features requested in the article, and how they must go about improving the situation.

It’s always important to note that the BlackBerry platform wasn’t founded on being a consumer device. RIM fell into the consumer market almost by accident. As more consumers adopt the device, the company is now faced with satisfying two, almost mutually exclusive markets.

Take for example the browser; highlighted in the article as being something sub-par and needing improvement. You can’t disagree with this but again, why are we here? The BlackBerry platform has always been focused on delivering totally secure communication for enterprise, and the browser was secondary to this focus. While it’s possible to update this browser and offer more functionality such as the ability to download files from the browser, there is a lot to take into consideration, not just the user experience. With each feature addition, you have to asses the security risks associated with said feature because it’s paramount to the brand.

The same argument applies to many of the other items on the list. App World, the touchscreen interface and the desktop software are all features of the BlackBerry platform that are lacking from a consumer perspective. But again, we’re moving from enterprise to consumers and the enterprise is still the most important market. Do you think government organizations with 50,000+ BlackBerry devices and an IT administration department controlling device policies care about a multitouch Storm? No, they care about a secure smartphone platform, and in this respect RIM is the best in the industry.

Another issue the article mentions is WiFi. The author asks: “why doesn’t the company have Wi-Fi in all its devices?” While there are probably a lot of reasons why, two come to mind and I’m surprised the author didn’t point them out.

1) Price: Offering WiFi significantly changes the price point of a device and RIM needs to be able to offer a wide range of prices to satisfy various markets. This is why the Curve is the number 1 selling smartphone in North America. The device comes in many iterations with varying prices for every type of user.

2) Carrier relations: When the user is on WiFi they aren’t burning through data and when they aren’t burning through data they aren’t spending more money. There are clearly deals going on at the executive level to stop certain devices from having WiFi because it’s good business for the carrier. You have to play ball with the carriers to get your product out there.

Overall, the article was great but writers are quick to forget where RIM is coming from, and where their allegiance lies. The consumer market is new to them and rest assured they’re getting there, but enterprise is what made this product great and they aren’t about to compromise the founding principles of the platform.

Read the Wired article for yourself.

Share:

What to expect from RIM in 2009: The year of the upgrades

Posted

Kyle

on September 1, 2009, at 12:08 pm

in Editorials and Spotlight

7 Comments

So it seems as though 2009 will be the year of the upgrades. The following devices are rumored to hit shelves before 2010:

The BlackBerry Onyx aka Bold 9700
The BlackBerry Storm 2 9520
The BlackBerry Essex
The BlackBerry “Striker” 9100 (rumor probably has the codename wrong)

Lets take a quick look at each device, so you can see why 2009 should be dubbed “The Year of the Upgrades.” While these devices haven’t launched yet, and nothing is final, there are a variety of features that I would like to see ship with these devices, to truly add a great leap forward element for the device.
Click through to read about each of these upcoming devices and what features should be included

Share:

BlackBerry user poll: what iPhone apps would you like for BlackBerry?

Posted

Kyle

on August 28, 2009, at 1:59 pm

in Editorials, Spotlight and Top-Story

44 Comments

The developer community around the iPhone is fairly different from that of the BlackBerry developer community in that iPhone developers have OpenGL at their disposal, allowing them to create visually rich applications, as well as as the marketplace and demographics are slightly different. While the BlackBerry Storm is capable of running OpenGL hardware-wise, we have yet to see the API’s unlocked.

Lets assume for a moment, and this might be a crazy assumption, that BlackBerry had OpenGL API’s (possibly with the Storm 2?), and that any iPhone app you see could be ported to BlackBerry. For this to be true, we would also need to see device memory increase, as well as perhaps a built-in compass.

With those assumptions, and there may be a few more, what applications have you seen for iPhone, that you would like for BlackBerry? Or rather, what are your favorite iPhone apps that aren’t available for BlackBerry?

Here are some that I would like to see, and they’re mostly for entertainment. I’m sure there are a ton of apps out there in various categories so share what you find.
Click through for a list of 10 cool iPhone apps that aren’t available for BlackBerry

Share:

eBay pre-release BlackBerry devices are a waste of money

Posted

Kyle

on August 27, 2009, at 3:46 pm

in Editorials and News

10 Comments

Here at BlackBerry Cool, we have had our share of pre-release BlackBerry devices in the office. While it’s fun to play with the device and get an idea of the form factor, the software hasn’t been through the requisite testing and is usually very buggy. The OS is generally outdated and overall, it’s a very limited version of what you will get when the device comes to market.

A company on eBay is currently offering two pre-release BlackBerry devices: the BlackBerry Storm 2 and the BlackBerry Bold 9700 (listed as the BlackBerry Onyx).

The above image is a screencap of the BlackBerry Bold 9700 listing and it shows just how ridiculous this listing is. The image shows the 9700 with a trackball. We know the device will be shipping with a trackpad and if you were to purchase this device you would be seriously missing out. Currently, the item’s highest bid is at US $1,625.00.

The BlackBerry Storm 2 is currently bidding at US $1,125.00 and it’s looking like it might be a scam. While the seller has a great seller’s rating, the item uses a picture from Engadget. The only other image attached to the auction looks like a mess of wires. If the user was serious about this sale, you would think they would take the time to post a proper picture as in the case of the 9700 listing. Again, with this purchase you are going to miss out on what could be a great device. A touchscreen BlackBerry such as the Storm 2 will have to go through an incredibly rigorous testing period as the accelerometer and new UI adds more levels of complexity. Buying this device before it’s ready for market will be a complete waste of your hard earned money.

I’m not even going to link to the eBay auction out of principle.

Share:

What does RIM’s Torch Mobile acquisition mean for Opera Mini?

Posted

Kyle

on August 25, 2009, at 10:42 am

in Editorials and News

4 Comments

Recently, RIM acquired Torch Mobile in a move that made their plans to update the native BlackBerry Browser public. This is leaving BlackBerry users wondering how third party browsers such as Opera, will compete.

Dennis Bournique of WAPReview has some great insight into this acquisition and what it means for Opera. While it is great that BlackBerry will be updating their browser, there is always room for improvement and this is where third party browsers such as Opera Mini will always be complementary to the BlackBerry platform.

First of all, Opera has consistently built what I consider to be better mobile browsers than any of the Webkit implementations. For example, I have never seen a Webkit based mobile browser where the cache worked properly, pressing the “Back” button always seems to reload the page, wasting time and network resources. The Webkit based browsers I have used also generally did not have a fit to width option and dedicated page up and page down keys, features that are standard on Opera browsers and are critical to browsing effectively on mobile. Opera mobile browsers also tend to be faster than Webkit based ones. Opera Turbo, which combines the speed of server assisted browsing with the security of the end to end encryption provided by direct browsing, will raise the bar even higher. I expect that Opera will continue to offer better alternative browsers on all platforms and by doing so will be able to monetize the various Opera products effectively with sales and search engine deals.

I highly recommend reading WAPReview’s take on the Torch Mobile acquisition.

Share:

A brief history of the Rogers Hardware Upgrade Program (HUP)

Posted

BlackBerry Cool

on August 24, 2009, at 1:58 pm

in Editorials and News

5 Comments

Recently, we learned that the Rogers HUP was going to extend to all devices, and not just smartphones. Our friend RogersDude69 has broken down a brief history of how the Rogers HUP has become increasingly stringent and is making it really difficult to get a new device.

When will the madness end? Rogers needs to realize that having customers upgrade their devices will mean bigger bills and more money for them in the end. Also, as a general note for doing business, you should never tell your customer that they can’t buy the product. Make concessions and get the product in the customer’s hand. Here is a little history of how the HUP is quickly becoming obsolete:
Continue reading how Rogers is destroying their customers’ ability to upgrade devices

Share:

Make it Seven Update: Melnyk and Balsillie getting heated

Posted

Kyle

on August 21, 2009, at 10:16 am

in Editorials and News

4 Comments

Things are getting pretty heated between Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk and Jim Balsillie.

Recently, Balsillie was rejected as a potential owner of the Phoenix Coyotes by the league’s governors because he was deemed to be lacking “good character and integrity.” Jim responded by suggesting in a document filed to the bankruptcy court that “the NHL has long tolerated indicted and even convicted criminals among its ranks.”

The Melnyk and Balsillie trouble started when Balsillie singled out Melnyk, who was fined $1-million for alleged violations of the Canadian Securities Act and ordered to step down as director of his company, Biovail, for one year. Sound familiar?

Both Mr. Melnyk and NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly fired back at Mr. Balsillie. “I have watched with some dismay Jim Balsillie’s fall from being a deserving business icon to what now appears to be a desperate man willing to say anything or do anything to buy an NHL franchise,” Mr. Melnyk said in a release.

“In a recent legal filing, he dragged me into his hurricane of legal filings and panicked pleas and cited me as someone who is lacking the personal integrity to own the Ottawa Senators hockey franchise. I’ve tried to reach Jim through his office to find out why he would say something like this about me — we barely know each other– but I’ve received no response.”

“I will say in response publicly that his willingness to drag down anyone he can get his hands on along with him is discouraging and saddens me. Jim and I both found great success in our Canadian businesses. And that is where the comparisons stop.”

Balsillie also took aim at Bruce McNall, owner of the LA Kings, who was sentenced to almost six years in prison for defrauding several banks of more than US$236-million.

While it may be a good strategy to point out the inconsistencies in what the NHL is saying, it’s my personal opinion that Balsillie should have simply focused on the good he does, rather than the bad things others have done. Balsillie has a plethora of ventures that are indicative of a businessman with character and who invests in the country and institutions that brought him success. Here are just a few from his Wiki:

In 2000, Balsillie provided $10 million of personal funds towards the founding of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics, adding to the $100 million already contributed by fellow RIM executive Mike Lazaridis.
In 2002, Balsillie founded the Centre for International Governance Innovation with $30 million of personal funds.
In 2007, Balsillie donated $50 million to the University of Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier University and the Centre for International Governance Innovation as part of a $100 million initiative to create the Balsillie School of International Affairs.

Sure, Balsillie has made some aggressive business moves and does leverage the media to get what he wants, but none of this suggests a man who lacks character.

[Via]

Share:

Search

EditorialsPage 2 of 36

Quick Links

Subscribe

Staff Picks

Staff Picks - Best Games/Themes

Google Links

BBCool AppStore

Store Feed

New from the BBCool Store

Twitter Counter

Recent Visits from Twittererers

Twitter

Spotlights

Email Updates

Browse by Month

Top Tags

BlackBerry Cool

Browse by Tags

Browse by Category

Subscribe