By
Telecom Lead Team: In order to reboot its dwindling sales and
refocus its efforts in the global smart phone market, Research In Motion (RIM),
the makers of BlackBerry, will chart out new strategies under the leadership of
new CEO, Thorsten Heins.
RIM
will try to revitalize its dipping sales in developed market. The company is
already facing stiff competition from Apple and companies using Android
platform.
The
major change that could be seen in the company’s strategy is to open licensing
of RIM’s new QNX operating system to other smartphone or tablet manufacturers.
RIM had resisted this approach in the past. Several analysts have argued
that this could be the company’s best option to boost revenue and grow its
platform.
The
handset makers may go for licensing deals with RIM for its QNX operating
system, as they are seeking ways to escape from expensive patent claims from
Microsoft and Apple. Additionally, the new QNX operating system will enable the
handset makers to access popular features like Blackberry Messenger and the
company’s popular enterprise solutions.
“If
Samsung or any other Android partners were to integrate RIM’s enterprise
services like Blackberry Messenger into their offering, they would achieve
instant differentiation in the increasingly monochrome Android space,”
said Craig Cartier, analyst at Frost and Sullivan analyst.
However,
it would be hard to anticipate the uptake of QNX OS by the handset makers, as
the company delayed the launch of its Blackberry smartphones featuring QNX due
to a short supply of semiconductor components.
Since
the launch of Playbook and the worldwide blackout in its services, sales have
been poor and inconsistent, though in the third-quarter, RIM‘s revenue stood at $5.2 billion, up 24 percent from $4.2 billion in the
previous quarter. During the quarter, RIM shipped approximately 14.1 million
smart phones and almost 150,000 BlackBerry PlayBook tablets.
This
year, under the guidance of Thorsten Heins, RIM will try to strengthen its
share in the tablet market with its highly anticipated OS 2.0 upgrade for the
BlackBerry PlayBook. The Playbook will be available to the masses
sometime in February. The company had demonstrated its improved PlayBook
OS at the CES 2012, which now includes contacts, calendar, email, plus a few
other notable improvements like the on-screen keyboard, content sharing via
Bluetooth, movie rentals and apps.
Notably,
due to recent hiccups that include shareholders’ dissent over poor performance,
the major task for Heins would be to build strong marketing and investor
relations teams. Additionally, it would be pertinent for Heins to conceptualize
an innovative product portfolio around a fully functional and well realized
BB10 operating system along with the launch of its QNX OS portfolio.
By
Danish Khan
editor@telecomlead.com
