• If RIMM wants to live, do a dismantle and sell

    by  • November 15, 2011 • Tech • 4 Comments

    RIMM doesn’t have any promising phones in pipeline nor do they have a platform to die for. So what is it that they are good at? RIMM is good at providing enterprise services and that’s what they should be doing.

    So I suggest a plan for them. Dismantle the company. Spin off the hardware business. Let’s face the fact here. RIMM’s hardware is not the top of the line. They do not know any form factor other than candy bars with QWERTY key board. Nokia, HTC or Samsung would be ready to buy it. Now they can partner with any of them to create phones for them. I think Nokia is the best match for them. I’ll tell you the reason in a bit.

    Next step is to, stop developing a new platform (BBX). Stop supporting the existing platform and partner with Microsoft for windows phone 7. This would give them a solid platform to build on. The synergy of BlackBerry+Microsoft+Nokia would be a thing to watch out for.

    Following this plan, RIMM can trim fat and prepare a small and lean team to work on BlackBerry services. Considering the outage that occurred a couple of weeks ago and lack of capability to figure out root cause on RIMM’s part are reason enough to believe they need some solid investments in these area in terms of reliable infrastructure and men power.

    Do you think this plan work for them or do you suggest something else?

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    • Syed Fahad Ali

      In future I see RIMM going to Windows 7 for software, but the sale of hardware looks distant future until board members change in RIMM

      • http://pratikpatel.in Pratik Patel

        We have many companies producing top of the line hardware…. Why do they have to make themselves? Any company would be happy to partner.

    • Prasad Kulkarni

      Steve Jobs has famously quoted: “People who are really
      serious about software should make their own hardware!” :-)

       

      …RIMM on the other side, seems to be serious about
      neither! :D

       

      On a serious note, I do agree to some extent that RIMM should be getting
      rid of its hardware business. There is too much of competition and just to stay
      in the race is getting extremely difficult. For example, when all the mobile
      companies are coming with their own versions of Amoled screens, Samsung has
      already built Super Amoled Plus a year back and is coming up with a flexible
      screen next year.

       

      But the real deal with RIMM is its software. That is
      what it identifies itself from its competitors. This is why businesses adopt Blackberry.

       If RIMM opt for Microsoft OS,
      they will be part of the Windows herd, similar to what we find for Android
      these days. If RIMM is serious about its future, inventing new business ideas
      is the only way to go. Their main goal should be to impress new possible
      customers and retain their existing client portfolio. It’s not going to be
      easy, but that’s the only way out!

      • http://pratikpatel.in Pratik Patel

        I agree that the real deal with RIMM is its software but when you talk about software, it consists of OS + APPS. And I think RIMM has a killer eco system already setup for businesses. Which can be developed as deeply integrated apps.
        I am suggesting they replace their underlying OS with windows phone 7. RIMM’s new BBX platform and windows phone 7 has many similarities. If they adapt MS’s OS, that would give them advantage of Microsoft’s marketing power and business relations.
        And on the other hand, When you have a threat on your existence, it’s good to be in herd. ;) And I am sure they won’t have an identity crisis because of their Blackberry services.