great article:
BlackBerry patent fight spooks some customers
By Michelle Kessler, USA TODAYTue Dec 13, 7:02 AM ET
A patent lawsuit against the maker of the BlackBerry is starting to scare some customers away from the popular e-mail device.
• Land Equity Partners, a Park City, Utah, development firm, recently considered buying BlackBerrys for five partners. Then the company heard about the patent dispute between BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion and NTP, a tiny intellectual property firm. Faced with that uncertainty, Land Equity purchased $650 Treo e-mail devices from Palm instead. "I didn't need the headache," partner Tyler Aldous says.
• Founder Geoff Ables is evaluating e-mail devices for his staff at Customer Connect, a Davidson, N.C., tech consulting firm. But the BlackBerry is not on the list. Ables is also encouraging clients to steer clear. An alternate technology "is a much safer way to go," he says.
• Giant tech consultant Gartner is offering its clients similar advice. Last week, it sent a letter urging businesses to "stop or delay all mission-critical BlackBerry deployments and investments" until RIM's legal position is clarified.
RIM's patent fight has been going on for years, but NTP has won several key victories in recent weeks. That's pushing the legal wrangling into the spotlight - and has heightened the possibility that a court will force RIM to stop offering service in the USA until the case is settled.
That's a troublesome sign for RIM, which dominates the mobile e-mail market with about 3.7 million subscribers. RIM says it has developed a workaround that will keep BlackBerrys running if it loses the lawsuit. But that hasn't stopped shares of the Waterloo, Ontario, company from falling more than 20% since September. Shares closed Monday up $1.10 at $65.23.Things could get worse for RIM if more customers stay away.
Rivals are benefiting. "The phones have started to go crazy" at Good Technology, a Silicon Valley firm that makes mobile e-mail software for devices from Palm, Nokia and others, CEO Danny Shader says. Since Wednesday, Good has fielded more than 100 calls from companies that use large numbers of BlackBerrys, Shader says.
Still, many tech experts say a shutdown in BlackBerry service is unlikely. "There's too much at stake for (RIM and NTP) not to settle, says Shubha Ghosh, a law professor at the University of Buffalo and Southern Methodist University.
RIM risks alienating its U.S. customers, which account for about 70% of its revenue. And NTP wants RIM to do well - so it can get a slice of the profits under a licensing agreement.
That's enough to satisfy some RIM customers. Jeffrey Winton, CEO of Chicago lighting manufacturer Radionic Industries, says he's shopping for a BlackBerry because he's convinced RIM will make a deal.
