RIM Fights to Retain or Regain BlackBerry Relevance

From PC World: Research in Motion (RIM)--makers of all things BlackBerry--is reportedly developing a new, more iPhone-like BlackBerry smartphone, as well as working on a BlackBerry OS tablet to compete with the Apple iPad, and the rest of the tablet onslaught. The BlackBerry product line has been stagnant and slipping in market share, and these new initiatives may let RIM get its mojo back.

BlackBerry is the dominant smartphone operating system, but the stale devices and lack of innovation have allowed the iPhone, and Android smartphones like the Droid Incredible to chip away steadily at its market share. Recent comScore data shows RIM with about 42 percent of the smartphone market, with Apple coming in second at just over 25 percent.

A 17 percent lead seems significant enough, but unfortunately for RIM that gap is only about half of what it was a year ago. Meanwhile, Android smartphones seem to be an invasion force that both RIM and Apple should be concerned about.

Until now, RIM has been able to more or less coast on its established reputation as the de facto mobile communications and computing platform for businesses. Recent reports from AT&T, though, suggest that as many as four in ten iPhones are being bought for business use, and Microsoft is prepared to launch a renewed attack later this year with Windows Phone 7.

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