The Perils of Missing The Boat

An in-depth look at what happened to RIM. The bottom line - this is what happens when you remain stuck on your current business model, and ignore whats happening out there in the field. I know, I know, this is about as ridiculously obvious a statement as has ever existed, but then again, if it is so obvious, why is RIM withering on the vine right now?

Interesting tidbits about Jim and Mike (founders, co-CEOs)
- "There will never be a BlackBerry with an MP3 player or camera.” (in 2005)
- “A BlackBerry with a name is ridiculous.” (unlike RAZR, it will always be a model number)
- “One of the main reasons RIM missed the mark with the browser was because they were always proud of how little data usage a user would use,”
- “Mike Lazaridis couldn’t imagine that consumers would be spending hours watching and streaming video to their devices, he couldn’t understand it,”
- “Mike is convinced people won’t buy an iPhone because battery life isn’t as good as a BlackBerry,” (When you hear Mike talk about the latest and greatest, it’s been the same thing for ten years: security, battery performance, and network performance)
- RIM has always viewed carriers as (the) customers rather than end users

Inside RIM: An exclusive look at the rise and fall of the company that made smartphones smart

Research In Motion is in the midst of a major transition in every sense of the word. Publicly, the company is portraying a very defensive image — one that is very dismissive, as if RIM is profitable and class-leading, and the media is out of line to criticize its business, as are investors. Internally, however, there’s a different story to be told. It’s a story filled with attitude, cockiness, heated arguments among the executive team and Co-CEOs, and paranoia. We’ve spoken to multiple ex-RIM executives at length about their experiences with the company over the past few years. While most speak highly of RIM and their time in Waterloo, they also each left the company due mainly to RIM’s lack of vision and leadership. Read on for an exclusive inside look at a company teetering on the edge between greatness and collapse. (more...)