Thursday, June 27, 2013 9:19:14 PM
BlackBerry unveiled a variety of announcements at its recent BlackBerry Live conference. The one that’s getting the most attention, though, is the announcement that the popular BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service will soon be available for iOS and Android. The move is intended to allow BlackBerry to extend its reach and regain some of its lost relevance, but what it really does is make it easier for businesses to transition smoothly to rival mobile platforms.
BlackBerry has plummeted precipitously from its once-lofty perch atop the smartphone market. It let hubris cloud its judgment–assuming the dominance of the BlackBerry brand was simply unassailable by upstarts like iOS and Android. That obviously proved false, and now BlackBerry finds itself in (a very distant) fourth place after falling behind even the struggling Windows Phone platform.
BlackBerry has only survived complete extinction because companies and government agencies had already invested heavily in the BlackBerry ecosystem. Businesses rely on the existing BlackBerry servers and services, which makes it difficult to just switch to iOS or Android. Organizations are still making the switch. It’s just more complicated, and requires more consideration and commitment as a function of how deeply BlackBerry is integrated into the environment.
Until now, that is.
The ship has sailed
Thorsten Heins, CEO of BlackBerry, said, “We are confident that the time is right for BlackBerry Messenger to become an independent, multiplatform service.”
He’s wrong.
The time was right about three years ago. BlackBerry was losing market share, but still had enough respect and credibility to command attention. BlackBerry Messenger was a leading messaging service, and a hallmark of the BlackBerry brand. Had BlackBerry (still RIM at the time) made BBM cross-platform then, it may have caught on as the de facto messaging service. Now, it has to compete with WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger, and Google+ and a variety of other cross-platform messaging services that have far more users than BBM.
BEVERLY HILLS, CA - MARCH 22: The new BlackBerry Z10 smartphone is displayed at an AT&T store after it went on sale in the U.S. on March 22, 2013 in Beverly Hills, California. BlackBerry made a major shift in design by swapping its signature keyboard for a full touch-screen. The company is expected to launch its Q10 smartphone in the spring, incorporating both a touch-screen and keyboard. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
Back from the brink
The launch of the BlackBerry 10 (BB10) platform, and the BlackBerry Z10 smartphones have bee instrumental in the success of the company this year. While it’s easy to get excited about the initial popularity of the BlackBerry Z10, though, the spike in demand was primarily pent up demand from existing BlackBerry customers. Organizations and users locked in to BlackBerry watched the world pass them by and drooled enviously over iPhones and Android smartphones for years. The Z10 finally lets them experience some of those same features and capabilities, and uses were anxious to jump on the new BlackBerry smartphone.
The bad news for BlackBerry is that the popularity of the Z10 among existing BlackBerry customers won’t increase BlackBerry market share among the smartphone competition. Given a choice between an iPhone, an Android smartphone, and a BlackBerry Z10, very few (if any) people will opt for the BlackBerry. Once the initial wave of demand subsides, there won’t be anyone left to buy BlackBerry smartphones, and BlackBerry will be back at square one looking at the brink of collapse.
Stemming the tide
If Heins is hoping that a cross-platform BBM will attract customers to BlackBerry, he’s wrong again. At best, offering BBM on iOS and Android will help BlackBerry hang on a little longer with existing customers, but nobody is going to switch to BlackBerry as a result of BBM being offered on iOS and Android.
Essentially, BBM for iOS and Android is a tacit admission from BlackBerry that it recognizes its dominance is dead, and that the world has become irreversibly cross-platform. Organizations are embracing the BYOD (bring your own device) revolution and letting users choose their own smartphones and other devices. At this point, if BlackBerry didn’t start to make things like BBM work cross-platform, it would simply alienate customers, and marginalize the BlackBerry platform even further.
Coupled with the fact that BlackBerry already incorporated iOS and Android device management capabilities into BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), BlackBerry is giving its customers the tools they need to adopt BYOD and operate in the cross-platform world. Customers should be pleased, because BlackBerry is enabling them to leverage their existing investment in the BlackBerry ecosystem to work with and manage rival mobile platforms.
Ultimately, though, BlackBerry is oiling the tracks and making it easier for customers to transition completely off of BlackBerry mobile devices. Instead of ripping off the Band-aid and abandoning the investment in BlackBerry, companies can migrate at a more leisurely pace by attrition. BlackBerry doesn’t have a compelling offer, and it has lost the value propositions that make it unique. It will continue to lose relevance and market share despite–or in part because of–making BBM available for iOS and Android.
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